Afternoon roundup
Monday, Jun 5, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Some folks went a bit kooky after the April COGFA report. May’s report has better news…
General Funds revenues bounced back nicely from April’s $1.8 billion decline with growth of $677 million in May, as compared to the same month the year prior. The May increases were experienced across the board, with the most significant growth coming from the Personal Income Tax and Federal Sources. Part of the reason for last month’s extensive declines was due to April having one less receipting day in FY 2023. This “lost” day was effectively made up in May, as the extra receipting day helped bolster this month’s revenue totals.
Personal Income Tax revenues recouped a segment of its significant April losses (associated with comparatively weaker final tax payments) with growth of $367 million in May. When removing the non-general fund distributions to the Refund Fund and the Local Government Distributive Fund, the net increase was $311 million. In addition, revenue from Federal Sources, which have trailed last year’s pace throughout much of the year, rose $252 million in May helping to alleviate some of the sting from last month’s declines. […]
Year to Date
When incorporating May’s revenue gains into the FY 2023 accrued total, General Funds base revenues are now ahead of last year’s pace by $484 million with one month remaining in the fiscal year. When including the revenue gains from ARPA reimbursement funds, the overall growth for the fiscal year improves to $809 million. While this year-to-date growth figure is well below the $2.5 billion high-water mark at the end of February, it is a noticeable improvement over the meager $132 million in growth that resulted after March and April’s sizeable declines
* Gov. Pritzker spoke today about the state’s MAP grant spending…
When I came in, we had about $400 million dedicated to college scholarships, MAP grants. Today it’s $750 million.
* Press release…
U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today joined hospital leaders and the Illinois Health and Hospital Association (IHA) to unveil the four-year reportof the Chicago HEAL Initiative. Launched in 2018 by Senator Durbin and 10 of the largest hospitals serving Chicago, the HEAL Initiative is a collaboration to address the root causes of gun violence through economic, health, and community projects in 18 of Chicago’s neighborhoods with the highest rates of violence, poverty, and health disparities. Today’s report highlights significant progress made by the hospitals in local hiring, job training and mentorship, and trauma-informed care and youth mental health activities. As part of today’s report, Durbin also announced $6.25 million in new federal funding to support these hospital-led efforts to break the cycle of violence through community programs. […]
Among other highlights, last year the ten hospitals:
• Hired 5,390 new employees from the 18 focus neighborhoods.
• Provided 3,639 students with summer job, pipeline, or apprenticeship programs.
• Operated 24 school-based health clinics and mobile health units that served 11,277 students.
• Served 17,623 individuals with violence recovery programs, including 3,028 victims with ongoing trauma-informed case management services.
* Tribune…
Across the country, marshes, swamps and bogs quietly soak up flood water and filter pollutants. Ecologists agree they are one of the best natural defenses against climate change.
But after a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling, more than half of the country’s 118 million acres of wetlands, according to estimates from the environmental firm Earthjustice, will effectively no longer have federal protection from developers and polluters.
Illinois, which has lost 90% of its wetlands since 1818, is among the more vulnerable states with no state-level protections for wetlands on private property. Those on public land are still protected.
In a startling precedent for environmental law, experts say, the decision in Sackett v. EPA upends more than 50 years of legal protections by limiting the jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act to wetlands visibly connected to major waterways. […]
The Illinois Environmental Council is calling on Gov. J.B. Pritzker to issue an executive order protecting as many wetlands as possible until the General Assembly can consider new legislation when it reconvenes in January.
Developers and farmers have applauded the decision. But there is now a push on to provide some state protections and Gov. Pritzker was asked today about taking some sort of executive action…
There’s nothing currently on the table to do that. But understand what the issue is. It’s something that a lot of communities, a lot of, particularly rural communities are very concerned about. So, you know, we’ll continue to look at it and our EPA is looking at it.
Not sure what sort of executive order he could even issue.
* The Sun-Times has an explainer on those sweepstakes machines which are at the heart of the Jimmy Weiss trial. Excerpt…
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s campaign staff made supportive comments about video gambling before his election this year, calling it “an important revenue source for critical investments in public safety, transportation, housing and other public accommodations.”
So [Rep. Daniel Didech, D-Buffalo Grove] said he’d prefer sweepstakes machines become part of a “larger conversation about whether Chicago is going to opt in to our video gaming regime.”
Meanwhile, Fernandez told the Sun-Times that traditional video gaming devices are “much more attractive” than sweepstakes machines. The technology, he said, rivals that found in a traditional casino.
And, he said, “if there were a market where video gaming were allowed, [sweepstakes] would not survive.”
The city has left countless millions on the table while allowing an untaxed gray market to flourish. Ridic.
* Speaking of video gaming, a Cook County judge granted a rare temporary restraining order against the Illinois Gaming Board because the board can’t seem to do its job in a timely manner...
Lucky Lincoln has been a licensed video gaming terminal operator under the Illinois Video Gaming Act since 2014. On December 14, 2017, the Board filed its first complaint for disciplinary action against Lucky Lincoln (DC-V-17-226). It filed a second complaint on December 17, 2019 (DC-V-19-094). A consolidated hearing on those complaints just began on May 22, 2023, nearly five years after the first complaint.
On May 12, 2023, the Board filed a third complaint for disciplinary action against Lucky Lincoln (DC-V-23-161). The complaint attaches a “Notice of Limited Summary Suspension” issued by the Administrator
* Press release…
Today job seekers from across northern Illinois will participate in the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services’ (DCFS) inaugural “On-the-Spot Hiring” event, which connects service-driven professionals with employment opportunities in essential areas of the state’s child welfare system.
Thanks to a collaborative effort between Governor JB Pritzker, DCFS and the Illinois Department of Central Management Services (CMS), attendees interested in pursuing careers as child welfare specialists, child protection specialists, child welfare trainees and child protection trainees will be able to meet one-on-one with DCFS recruiters to learn more about the agency and the critical roles it is seeking to fill. Qualified candidates who have bachelor’s or master’s degrees in related human service, education, criminal justice, criminal justice administration or law enforcement may leave the recruiting event with conditional offers of employment. The expedited hiring process used at today’s event is a milestone for DCFS, reducing the turnaround time traditionally needed to make an employment offer by 80 percent helping the agency to fill vital public service roles without undue delay.
* Dilla was in Springfield?…
* Isabel’s roundup…
* Sun-Times | What are sweepstakes machines? The gambling devices at the center of the latest public corruption trial: Businessman James T. Weiss is accused of paying $32,500 in bribes to then-state Rep. Luis Arroyo between November 2018 and October 2019 to promote and vote for legislation related to sweepstakes machines in the Illinois General Assembly. […] Federal prosecutors charged Arroyo with bribery in October 2019, and a grand jury indicted Arroyo and Weiss one year later, in October 2020. Arroyo pleaded guilty and is already serving a 57-month prison sentence. Weiss is set for trial Monday.
* Tribune | Second jobs for Chicago aldermen would be restricted or even banned under proposed ordinance: Talk of barring outside employment has been floated repeatedly but never gained traction. Members of council instead passed ordinances chipping away at potential conflicts or slightly tightening ethics restrictions. The most recent reforms, passed under ex-Mayor Lori Lightfoot in the wake of a federal corruption sweep, barred aldermen from working for a client if the representation “may result in an adverse effect on city revenue or finances, or affect the relative tax burden or health, safety, or welfare of any city residents.”
* Center Square | Illinois Supreme Court accepts challenge to downstate public safety pension consolidation: The law consolidating about 650 first responder pensions outside of Chicago was enacted in 2019 by Gov. J.B. Pritzker. All existing funds were pooled together into two separate funds, one for police and one for firefighters. Each local fund retained a separate account managing operation and the financial condition of each participating pension fund with the power to adjudicate and award retirement and other benefits from the funds.
* Crain’s | Illinois EPA awards $12.6M to build initial wave of EV chargers: Illinois currently has 1,156 public EV-charging stations with 2,896 charging ports, according to federal data. That’s up from 900 charging stations about 18 months ago but nowhere near the 40,000 ports that experts estimate will be needed to support the 1 million EVs that Gov. J.B. Pritzker envisions on the state’s roads by the end of the decade.
* Patch | Those Long Skirts In Hinsdale? Now You Know Why: The series, “Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets,” revealed allegations of inappropriate activity at the headquarters of the Institute in Basic Life Principles. It was at Ogden Avenue and Adams Street in Hinsdale for decades. The documentary was released Friday on Amazon Prime.
* Sun-Times | Johnson to Chicago police graduates: ‘I will have your back’: “Know as your mayor, as your brother, I’m here to build the type of coalition that generations to come will marvel because this will be the generation that stared into the eyes of the divisive nature that’s been created by political forces that do not want the city of Chicago to succeed. But this is the freakin’ city of Chicago. The best city in the world and no one — no one — will come before us,” Johnson told the graduates in the grand ballroom at Navy Pier.
* WGLT | Sen. Bennett liked some things in the new state budget, but said it was not transparent: Bennett said the 3,000-page budget was rushed through before lawmakers could see everything that was in it. “We’re still trying to work through what’s all in there,” Bennett said. “That whole lack of transparency, I would think, would really concern every person in the state of Illinois.”
* Sun-Times | Vendors forced out of Little Village Discount Mall have mixed success beyond it: She hopes she’ll be able to return to the open half of the mall, but many vendors have moved on and opened conventional storefronts or turned to other malls. Others hope that those locations are just temporary stops along the way to the group opening up a new mall of their own on the Southwest Side. The space those vendors have in mind is a former Kmart at 51st Street and Kedzie Avenue in Gage Park. The owner, they say, is fixing up the space. In April, Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th), who has supported the vendors throughout their exodus, announced the city had verbally agreed to help by covering the initial cost of rent.
* Center Square | Illinois Bacon Day will be celebrated every May 3: The idea came from state Sen. Tom Bennett, R-Gibson City, who wants to highlight the contribution that Illinois pork producers make to the state’s economy. Illinois pork farmers provide over 6 billion slices of Illinois-raised bacon every year, Bennett said in a statement.
* Crain’s | The maker of Nutella leans on its presence here to grow Kinder Chocolate in the U.S.: Ferrero is already selling its Kinder Joy, Kinder Bueno and Kinder Seasonal lines in the US, and it plans to release Kinder Chocolate in August, according to Bertrac. That will help boost a brand that already racks up $7 billion in sales around the world every year. To support the company’s US growth, Ferrero is expanding its manufacturing facility in Bloomington and it’s also opening a new innovation center in the Loop.
* NPR | An Anti-Vaccine Film Targeted To Black Americans Spreads False Information: When a filmmaker asked medical historian Naomi Rogers to appear in a new documentary, the Yale professor didn’t blink. She had done these “talking head” interviews many times before. […] “I was naive, certainly, in assuming that this was actually a documentary, which I would say it is not. I think that it is an advocacy piece for anti-vaxxers,” Rogers says. “I’m still very angry. I feel that I was used.”
* Tribune | Google users to get about $95 each in Illinois biometric privacy settlement: The Google settlement is one of a number of high-profile settlements in recent years over alleged violations of Illinois’ strict biometric privacy law; other companies that have been caught in the law’s crosshairs include Facebook and Snapchat parent Snap Inc. The law prohibits companies from collecting or saving biometric information without prior consent.
* Sun-Times | Haters can keep hating. Chicago tourists are back: Chicagoans will concede there are much more serious threats to our safety. Yet, in spite of its very real flaws — dog-whistling politicians aside, the rampant gun violence is undeniable — and the babbling naysayers, there’s no denying it. People love the Windy City.
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[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Since 2018, Uber and Arizona State University have provided 5000 qualified drivers and their families with 100% tuition coverage.
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* The Triibe…
A Marshall Project analysis found that from 2010 to 2022, the police made more than 38,000 arrests for illegal gun possession. These arrests — almost always a felony — doubled during this timeframe. While illegal possession is the most serious offense in most of the cases we analyzed, the charges often bear misleading names that imply violence, like “aggravated unlawful use of a weapon.”
Recent research shows that most people convicted in Illinois for felony gun possession don’t go on to commit a violent crime, and the majority of those sentenced to prison for gun possession don’t have past convictions for violence. Instead, people who already committed violent crimes are more likely to do so again.The racial disparities in this enforcement are glaring. Although Black people comprise less than a third of the city’s population, they were more than 8 in 10 of those arrested for unlawful possession in the timeframe we reviewed. The number of Black people arrested could fill every seat at a Chicago Bulls game and then some; the majority are men in their 20s and 30s.
The consequences of these arrests are long-lasting. If convicted, people face a year or more in prison, depending on the charges. Even without time behind bars, those we interviewed faced damning criminal records, time on probation, job loss, legal fees and car impoundments.
Officials justify the focus on confiscating guns — even if they are not being fired at anybody — as a way of curtailing violence. But these tactics have not substantially reduced shootings in Chicago. In fact, as possession arrests skyrocketed, shootings increased, but the percentage of shooting victims where someone was arrested in their case declined.
The research report is here. It found that 72 percent of firearm convictions were for possession offenses. And just 7 percent of defendants were arrested for a violent crime involving a firearm after release from prison for firearm possession.
* Tribune…
With some Republican support, Illinois lawmakers approved a measure to expand and indefinitely extend a probation program for first-time offenders charged with illegally possessing a gun.
A pilot program the Democratic-controlled General Assembly passed six years ago was limited to defendants under 21 with no prior convictions for violent crimes and was set to end in January. Under the new legislation, the age limit would be dropped, the probationary period would be shortened and the program would continue indefinitely.
“It’s one thing to have someone who’s 18 years old being caught with a firearm versus somebody who’s 55 or 60 years old, and so it just gives the judge and the prosecutor that discretion to figure out what program works best for them,” freshman Democratic state Rep. Kevin Olickal of Skokie, the main House sponsor of the legislation, said in an interview.
While the legislation is the latest example of the Democratic supermajority’s progressive stance on criminal justice, it attracted Republican support in part because of fears that the state’s strict gun laws, including a ban on many high-powered weapons, which is now tied up in court, could ensnare otherwise law-abiding citizens. […]
“This bill provides our state’s attorneys the opportunity to demonstrate leniency when the situation calls for it,” [Sen. Seth Lewis, R-Bartlett] said. […]
During the Senate floor debate, state Sen. Ram Villivalam, the bill’s main sponsor in the chamber, cited support from the Illinois State Rifle Association and the Illinois State’s Attorneys Association.
The bill passed the House 98-6 and cleared the Senate 37-16. Witness slips are here.
* Related…
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It’s almost a law
Monday, Jun 5, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* Chicago Tribune…
With some Republican support, Illinois lawmakers approved a measure to expand and indefinitely extend a probation program for first-time offenders charged with illegally possessing a gun.
A pilot program the Democratic-controlled General Assembly passed six years ago was limited to defendants under 21 with no prior convictions for violent crimes and was set to end in January. Under the new legislation, the age limit would be dropped, the probationary period would be shortened and the program would continue indefinitely. […]
While the legislation is the latest example of the Democratic supermajority’s progressive stance on criminal justice, it attracted Republican support in part because of fears that the state’s strict gun laws, including a ban on many high-powered weapons, which is now tied up in court, could ensnare otherwise law-abiding citizens.
There was no debate over the bill on the House floor when it was called during the early morning hours of May 27, moments after lawmakers voted to pass a $50.6 billion budget. The bill breezed through the House 98-6, with a number of Republicans voting yes. It was a tougher sell in the Senate two days earlier, passing 37-16 with just three Republicans siding with Democrats. […]
Under the legislation, which has to be signed by Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker before taking effect, the probationary program would last anywhere from six months to two years, instead of the current 18 months to two years.
* Crain’s Katherine Davis talks about new regulations put in place around the health insurance industry…
* WTVO…
With a rash of carjackings plaguing the state, the Illinois General Assembly has passed a bill requiring car manufacturers to establish a 24-hour hotline to allow police to track stolen cars.
House Bill 2245 was created in conjunction with Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart. […]
With certain Kia and Hyundai models the most at risk, Illinois has seen a 767% increase in vehicle thefts over the last year.
“Virtually every car from 2015 on has tracking capacity,” Dart said. The hotline would give deputies the ability to get tracking data on stolen cars in real-time, enabling officers to find a stolen car within 15 minutes.
* Daily Herald…
In the waning days of the legislative session, state lawmakers approved a resolution that lets the Illinois Department of Transportation pursue a public-private partnership to create express toll lanes from I-355 near Bolingbrook to the Dan Ryan Expressway.
It originates from an IDOT study during Gov. Bruce Rauner’s tenure that concluded toll lanes with dynamic pricing were the best alternative to fix traffic jams on the corridor. […]
Community and environmental activists warn it would drastically increase emissions from vehicles in neighborhoods near I-55, such as Little Village, which already has high air pollution and asthma levels. […]
The ultimate decision, however, is up to IDOT and Gov. J.B. Pritzker. Neither gave a definitive thumbs-up.
“The governor looks forward to reviewing the proposal,” Pritzker spokesman Alex Gough said.
IDOT “is not pursuing these plans at this time and will be reviewing and evaluating next steps,” spokeswoman Maria Castaneda noted.
* Sun-Times…
Cook County’s property tax system is confusing enough when people pay on time, but when they don’t, there’s a whole new level of bewilderment.
Properties with back taxes go into a knot of tax sales in which investors pay what’s due and then try — or maybe not — to collect the back taxes with interest from the owner. It’s a system for collecting tax revenue owed to local governments, but research has shown it doesn’t do a good job. Nor does it help with what should be a secondary goal of getting problem homes into responsible hands so they are no longer a blight. […]
A bill passed by the Illinois General Assembly in May would help community renewal by allowing local governments and agencies they work with, such as the land bank, to file tax liens earlier in the redemption process, Robinson said.
The measure, headed to the governor for final action, would allow counties to act on abandoned or vacant properties after just one failed tax sale. Currently, the land bank has to wait until properties have years’ worth of back taxes and wind up in what’s called the scavenger sale, held every two years.
Cook County Commissioner Bridget Gainer, who chairs the land bank, said homes typically sit vacant for seven to 10 years before her agency can get control. She hopes the legislation, if it becomes law, can cut that time in half.
* WTVO…
A bill on Illinois Governor JB Pritzker’s desk seeks to stop price gouging on generic drugs.
It would allow the attorney general’s office to take legal action if a manufacturer bumps prices by more than 30% in a year. The same goes for 50% spikes over a three-year period and 75% increases over five years.
It would take effect January 1 if signed. The measure does exempt companies if production costs force price increases. […]
“We’re still not completely addressing one of the biggest aspects of the influence of the increase of drug prices, and that’s the claims and pricing setting that pharmacy benefit managers have in this space,” said Garth Reynolds of the Illinois Pharmacists Association.
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Question of the day
Monday, Jun 5, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Background is here if you need it. The Daily Herald’s Jim O’Donnell…
When Bears President Kevin Warren met Naperville Mayor Scott Wehrli to discuss the possibility of a new Bears stadium in the giant west suburb, the password was “leverage.”
That’s a commodity the McMunchkins don’t have as they step up their campaign to strong-arm northwest suburban governmental entities impacted by any new development at Arlington Park.
The Bears want an array of “tax certainties” and other gift-wrapped concessions before ownership commits to building on approximately one-third of the 326 acres that housed Arlington Park.
From the side of a $5 billion sports entertainment company in which annual franchise profits are goof-proof, that’s a marvelous “ask.”
From the side of direct-hit communities including Arlington Heights, Palatine and Rolling Meadows, that “ask” has steadily edged toward dismissibly imperious nonsense.
A “nonstarter,” as Warren might say.
* Greg Hinz at Crain’s…
Initial reaction to Friday’s news generally was along the lines that the Bears are bluffing, using Naperville to pull a better property tax deal out of officials in Arlington Heights.
That indeed may be the case. But one key figure in this drama says he’s convinced the team’s threat is real.
“This is no bluff. They’re serious,” says state Rep. Marty Moylan, D-Chicago, who is the chief sponsor of a pending bill in Springfield to slash the Bears’ property tax on the Arlington track land. The bill would also provide some cash to neighboring towns and to the Chicago Park District to pay part of the debt on the team’s current home, Soldier Field.
“The team has a product and they’re just trying to get the best deal possible,” said Moylan. “But some people have delusions of grandeur,” he added, making it clear that “some people” doesn’t refer to the team but, rather, local school officials pushing to have the team pay more taxes than it prefers.
* The Question: Bluff or no bluff and does it really matter either way? Explain.
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* My weekly syndicated newspaper column…
An often bitter, loud and racially divisive debate played out before, during and after last week’s Chicago City Council meeting where members voted to pass a temporary funding package to shelter asylum-seekers.
The debate pitted mostly older Black alderpersons and moderate-to-conservative whites against Latinos and progressives of all stripes. Much of the division also fell along many of the same council battle lines drawn during the recent campaign between Mayor Brandon Johnson and Paul Vallas.
I asked Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch how his own Democratic members avoided being dragged into the same sort of public dispute over how to deal with an even bigger issue: finding cost-saving solutions to the massive $1.1 billion projected cost growth for undocumented immigrant health care services.
Welch explained his members were able to work things out behind closed doors during private caucus meetings.
“I think caucuses are very helpful,” Welch said. “We caucus a lot.”
He added that caucus meetings “give people a safe space to have conversations.”
And while members probably wished the internal debate on the health care issue had happened sooner, Welch said, “I did think it was important that we had that conversation as a caucus, before you take it to the floor. If you had that conversation on the floor first, it can become kind of chaotic and out of control.
“You have to give people spaces to share their voice. And that’s one of the things that I pride myself on, and I think we’ve had difficult conversations this session. We’re going to continue to have difficult conversations.
“When you’re dealing with a diverse group of people, you’re going to have a diverse group of thought. You’ve got to do that in a civil and respectful way. Many times I will stand up in caucus and tell them we’re gonna have a pretty serious discussion today, and I just ask that we do it in a civil and respectful way, and the caucus abides by that. And that’s all I ask.
“And so you can’t duck and dodge issues. You have to hit them head on. And I think we did that several times this session.”
Members of the legislature can hammer things out behind closed doors ahead of public debates because the General Assembly has long exempted itself from the Illinois Open Meetings Act. So, even if large factions of City Council members wanted to caucus together ahead of meetings, they can’t by law.
State law states no meeting can be held if it’s attended by “a majority of a quorum of the members of a public body.” The City Council’s quorum is 26 of its 50 members. Therefore, only groups of 13 or fewer can meet together in private.
The Illinois House Democrats have 78 of 118 members, but they’re exempt, so they’re all allowed to meet. I’ll leave the judgment of whether that’s good or bad to others, but it was clearly an advantage for Welch’s caucus on the health care issue.
Also, Johnson had broad support among Welch’s membership during the recent campaign while Vallas’ backing was in noticeably short supply. So there wasn’t as much of a built-in conflict going into the House debate as there was on the City Council.
And partisanship can often bind legislators together in times of strife (as it clearly did here), which can’t happen as easily on the officially non-partisan City Council.
Speaking of caucus meetings, I asked Welch if his meetings had improved since state Rep. Mary Flowers, D-Chicago, was banned from attending them. Members had complained she disrupted debates, spoke at length on topics to the point where the caucus meetings endlessly dragged on, and personally insulted members and staff.
“Every single caucus meeting after I made the decision, and I stand by that decision, I think those caucuses were full of healthy discussion,” Welch said. “People were open and honest about their opinions on various topics. And I was proud of our caucus and how we carried ourselves this session. I thought those caucus meetings became a lot more productive after I made the decision, and I’m looking forward to seeing that continue to get better.”
Asked if he’d received much internal blowback for his decision, Welch said, “I haven’t seen any blowback.” Welch replaced Flowers on his leadership team late last week with state Rep. Natalie Manley, D-Joliet.
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* This is a long post, but it’s important, so stay with me. From WBEZ in 2021…
The Chicago Park District is conducting a “broad investigation” into complaints that dozens of workers at the city’s pools and beaches regularly committed “sexual assault, sexual abuse, sexual harassment, workplace violence, and other criminal acts” – sometimes against minors.
Confidential reports obtained recently by WBEZ show investigators with the park district inspector general’s office have already gathered evidence corroborating accusations against at least three male lifeguards for sexual assault, harassment or retaliatory threats against their subordinates – including one incident involving the sexual assault and attempted rape of a 16-year-old girl. The park district’s watchdog says its investigation is “wide-ranging, comprehensive and robust,” with more reports to come.
The probe began in March 2020, after the park district’s top official and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s office received separate complaints from two former female lifeguards. Each of them alleged serious misconduct by “dozens of Chicago Park District employees in the Aquatics Department,” the documents show.
One of the two whistleblowers – who told the mayor’s office she had been sexually assaulted by a “more senior” employee when she was 17 – alleged “a huge incidence of sexual violence within the Park District” and said she believed there was “little support” from parks officials for those who report problems.
Last month, investigators with the inspector general’s office reported to the park district’s board and two of its top officials that one veteran lifeguard likely “committed criminal sexual assault and aggravated criminal sexual abuse” in 2018, when he forced the 16-year-old female lifeguard to perform a sex act on him, according to the documents obtained by WBEZ.
* Not long after that story appeared, a Park District official appeared before the Chicago city council…
* Sun-Times in 2022…
The Chicago Park District on Tuesday fired three top executives — and apologized to female lifeguards for dropping the ball on their complaints of sexual harassment and abuse — after a blistering report that exposed a frat-house culture tolerated for decades.
Fired were: Alonzo Williams, chief program officer; Adam Bueling, manager of beaches and pools; and Eric Fischer, assistant director of recreation. All join their former boss, ousted Supt. Mike Kelly, on the unemployment line. […]
The Sun-Times reported in August that, in February 2020, an Oak Street Beach lifeguard sent 11 pages of allegations to Kelly about lifeguards’ conduct during the summer of 2019.
She said she’d been pushed into a wall, called sexually degrading and profane names by fellow lifeguards and abandoned for hours at her post for refusing to take part in their drinking parties and on-the-job drug use. […]
It says the now-former superintendent first was notified of the woman’s allegation by her parents in an email sent to him on Aug. 30, 2019. Kelly forwarded the email to Williams and said, “Take a look and let’s discuss.”
The law firm of Arnold & Porter found no evidence either Williams or Kelly did anything to follow up on the parental complaint. Nor did they report the allegations to the inspector general or the Department of Human Resources, as park district rules require.
The young woman followed up on Feb. 7, 2020, sending to Kelly and separately to Fischer details of heartbreaking abuse she had suffered at work.
Still, Kelly did not report the allegations to the inspector general or to Human Resources, instead giving Williams and Fischer yet another crack at investigating the young woman’s complaints.
So, Alonzo Williams was allegedly given the opportunity to investigate a young woman’s horrific complaints and nothing was apparently done. The full investigative report is here…
We found sufficient evidence that Mr. Williams violated the CPD’s Policy on Sexual Harassment by not reporting Complainant One’s allegations to HR within five days of receiving them, and he violated CPD’s Violence in the Workplace Policy by not immediately reporting potentially dangerous situations.
Young women were forced to recite a “fight song” every morning or faced retaliation. I’m not gonna post the “lyrics,” but click here and go to page 13.
* Tribune today…
Four aldermen have paid more than $48,000 out of their taxpayer-funded expense accounts to a consulting firm run by a former top Chicago Park District official who was asked to resign for his involvement in the Park District’s sexual abuse lifeguard scandal and placed on a do-not-rehire list.
Payments to a firm owned and operated by Alonzo Williams, the Park District’s former chief programs officer, began less than five months after Williams’ resignation in late 2021 after he was repeatedly cited in an independent investigation as among several Park District executives who mishandled allegations of sexual harassment and abuse in the lifeguard program.
Williams was paid as an independent contractor for various consulting jobs by four City Council members: former Ald. Roderick Sawyer, 6th, and current Aldermen Michelle Harris, 8th, David Moore, 17th, and Jason Ervin, 28th. Three of the four defended paying Williams with city funds even though he was asked to resign and banned from working for the Park District again. […]
In Williams’ case, the independent report found he violated the Park District’s sexual harassment and workplace violence policies by failing to report to the district’s human resources department allegations made by a former Oak Street Beach female lifeguard and her family that she was subjected to sexual harassment, assault, hazing, bullying and retaliation.
The same day the report was released in November 2021, Williams resigned at the request of Park District CEO Rosa Escareño. But two months later, records show, Williams launched 8028 Consultants LLC, and just two months after that he received his first payment from Moore. Records show Williams was briefly employed in Moore’s ward office before he switched to being an independent contractor.
And then by two months later, Williams was being paid by Alds. Sawyer, Harris and Ervin. He also didn’t file financial interest statements as required by law, according to the Tribune.
* Yep…
Also, former Rep. Denyse Wang Stoneback.
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Open thread
Monday, Jun 5, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* I hope you all had a relaxing weekend. What’s going on?…
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Isabel’s morning briefing
Monday, Jun 5, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* Here you go…
* USA Today | How one quiet Illinois college town became the symbol of abortion rights in America: Similar scenes play out each day five miles away, a short drive past the city’s Amtrak station, downtown shops and neon-lit 1950s-era Dairy Queen, on the other side of town. There, at an anodyne medical office where a vinyl sign stuck in the grass reads “Alamo Women’s Clinic,” the parking lot is often filled with out-of-state license plates – women who drive as long as 10 hours from the Deep South for an abortion.
* Crain’s | ComEd president credited with utility’s operational improvement is leaving: ComEd disclosed the news in a terse Securities & Exchange Commission filing late today. It said the company “announced” the news May 31, although there was no release on that day. A spokeswoman said that’s when the news was shared internally, leaving public disclosure for the late Friday time frame companies traditionally choose to disclose bad news.
* Sen. Jil Tracy | Todd Maisch: A man proud of where he lived: A fixture in the Statehouse during his tenure at the Chamber, Todd was well-known for helping find common ground on contentious issues. The Illinois Chamber’s Champion of Free Enterprise Award, given biennially to Senators and Representatives who demonstrated their commitment to the entrepreneurial spirit, was much prized by lawmakers. […] My husband, Jim, served on the Chamber State Board with Todd for eight years. We are both grateful to have known Todd. He was a good friend to us and to all Illinoisans.
* Daily Herald | Jim O’Donnell: Have Kevin Warren and the Bears found their golden crowbar in Naperville?: From the side of a $5 billion sports entertainment company in which annual franchise profits are goof-proof, that’s a marvelous “ask.” From the side of direct-hit communities including Arlington Heights, Palatine and Rolling Meadows, that “ask” has steadily edged toward dismissibly imperious nonsense.
* Politico | Biden looking at big re-election fundraisers for the end of June: The president’s team is in talks with Gov. JB Pritzker (D-Ill.) about holding a fundraiser later this month, according to two people familiar with the event. A fundraiser by Pritzker, a billionaire who has promised to help pay for the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in 2024 along with other stakeholders on the host committee and elsewhere, would be a major boost to Biden in the final days of the current campaign finance quarter. The details of the event have not been finalized and are subject to change. But one of the dates being considered is June 28.
* WCIA | Illinois may receive up to $76 million in federal grants to restore land affected by coal mines: As a part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Illinois is one of 22 states and tribes eligible for parts of $725 million this fiscal year to clean up polluted lands affected by coal mines. The federal government will offer $11.3 billion in funding over 15 years to clean up across the country.
* Sun-Times | Humboldt Park residents say they reported swastika, erratic behavior of man dead after police standoff, but ‘no one was listening’: The man, who apparently took his own life inside the building in the 4100 block of West Chicago Avenue, had been the subject of more than 40 calls for service since January 2022, a CPD source tells the Sun-Times.
* WCCU | Counties across Central Illinois are seeing homeless populations rise: Executive director of Heartland Housed, Josh Sabo, says Sangamon County saw a decrease in homelessness during the pandemic, but they are now back at pre-pandemic numbers. “But through some data analysis we do anticipate that there could be around 155 additional households who experience homelessness in Sangamon County above previous years,” explained Sabo.
* Patch | South Suburban Airport ‘Ties Everything Together’, Sen. Hastings Says: “I’ve served with three different governors, and they’re going to make their mind up whether they’re going to support it or they’re not going to support it,” Hastings told Patch on Friday. “ I just hope that Governor Pritzker supports it. The south suburbs, just in terms of density, is a big area and he knows it’s growing and everyone else knows it’s growing. I think this is a great opportunity for us.”
* AP | Churchill Downs moves meet to Ellis Park to examine protocols following 12 horse deaths: Racing will continue at Churchill Downs through Sunday before shifting to the CDI-owned racing and gaming facility in Henderson, Kentucky. Ellis Park’s meet was scheduled to start July 7, four days after the scheduled close at Churchill Downs, and run through Aug. 27 but will now expand with Friday’s announcement.
* Elgin Courier-News | South Elgin student deprived of wearing Hispanic honor sash at graduation wants to ensure it doesn’t happen again: “We were in line outside of the Now Arena where the graduation was being held. One of the deans came up to me and said, ‘Hey, I need to let you know you are now allowed to wear that. I’m sorry. The district has a strict policy.’” “I was kind of taken aback because a lot of people were wearing them. They never said there was an issue with it,” Pedroza said
* Tribune | Illinois environmentalists push for state action to protect wetlands after Supreme Court ruling rolls back federal rules: In a startling precedent for environmental law, experts say, the decision in Sackett v. EPA upends more than 50 years of legal protections by limiting the jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act to wetlands visibly connected to major waterways. “(The court’s rationale) is almost science fiction,” said Richard Lazarus, a law professor at Harvard University who represented environmental groups before the court.
* Tribune | 44 tickets, one excuse: Chicago cop’s go-to alibi helps highlight troubles with police accountability: Most officers face only a handful of complaints over the course of their careers. But at least 92 misconduct complaints were filed against Kriv, according to city and police disciplinary records compiled and analyzed by the Tribune and ProPublica. Even more exceptional: About 28% of complaints against Kriv were found to have merit, compared with about 4% of complaints against all Chicago police officers going back decades.
* Tribune | Faith-based groups step up to help house migrants in Chicago: More than a dozen elected representatives and faith leaders gathered at a church Friday to ask for help from faith communities across the city to respond to the crisis, which deepened Friday when the Cook County medical examiner’s office confirmed a migrant died that morning at a shelter in Woodlawn. The migrant died at the former Wadsworth Elementary school building, where a temporary shelter was placed housing single individuals. Migrants told the Tribune recently they were crammed inside, sleeping close together and sharing few bathrooms.
* The Messenger | Migrants Flown into CA on Private Plane Were Carrying Florida Documents, Officials Say: After crossing the border, this group of migrants were approached by a private contractor who told them that they would be given jobs, support and help accessing a migrant center, according to Sacramento Area Congregations Together, a multi-faith social justice organization. The migrants were “dumped on the doorstep of a local church without any advance warning,” said Newsom.
* Daily Herald | Spongy moth menacing? It’s the caterpillar that ravages our trees’ leaves: What’s being done: With the ability to completely strip trees bare year after year, spongy moths have the potential to severely affect trees and forests. But since an Illinois county was quarantined first — Lake County in 2000 — two types of prevention treatments have proved successful at holding the line, or least slowing it down.
* Tribune | Advocates say Pride celebrations are even more important this year as attacks on the LGBTQ community intensify. ‘It’s terrifying.’: In contrast, Illinois is often considered an LGBTQ haven in the Midwest. While elected leaders in other parts of the country have worked to restrict LGBTQ freedoms, lawmakers recently passed several bills aimed at increasing gender inclusivity and protecting LGBTQ rights. But even here, some businesses have come under attack.
* People | Taylor Swift Kicks Off Pride Month with Speech at Chicago Concert: ‘This Is a Safe Space for You’: “There have been so many harmful pieces of legislation that have put people in the LGBTQ and queer community at risk. It’s painful for everyone, every ally, every loved one, every person in these communities, and that’s why I’m always posting, ‘This is when the midterms are, This is when these important key primaries are.’” she explained.
* Tribune | Soil salvaged during construction at Rockford’s Bell Bowl Prairie is once again sprouting rare flowers and grasses: “Already we’re seeing some very cool things,” said Forest Preserves of Winnebago County’s director of natural resources, Mike Brien, who spotted the violet wood sorrel growing in the Bell Bowl soil a few weeks ago. He said the plant hadn’t been present at the preserve before the soil transfer.
* CBS Chicago | Hadiya Pendleton’s family still pushing for end to gun violence 10 years later: This weekend there is a strong push to put an end to gun violence. That push includes a celebration for Hadiya Pendleton Saturday afternoon. Her murder rocked the nation and sparked a movement. But ten years have passed since she was caught in the crossfire crossfire of a gang shooting, and nothing has changed. People at the event pointed to the violence in Chicago one week ago during Memorial Day Weekend when 53 people were shot, but they say that won’t stop them from trying.
* Sun-Times | The Sun-Times introduces a ‘right to be forgotten’ policy: At the Sun-Times, we don’t think it’s fair for stories about arrests to follow people around forever if they were never convicted or if charges were dropped or expunged. In recognition of the unintended harm that some of our work has caused, we want to be intentional about reviewing these articles and considering whether they should remain part of the searchable internet record.
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Live coverage
Monday, Jun 5, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
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*** UPDATED x1 *** Afternoon roundup
Friday, Jun 2, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Background is here if you need it. Federal prosecutors have released their witness list for next week’s Jimmy Weiss trial…
*** UPDATE *** The attorney who sent me this wrote, “In 25 years of practicing law, I have never seen this before.” A minute entry today from the judge in the Weiss case, Steven C. Seeger…
During the continuation of the final pretrial conference yesterday, defense attorney Ilia Usharovich behaved in a disruptive, disrespectful, and contemptuous manner. The inappropriate conduct was on full display from the outset of the hearing, and devolved from there. Usharovich was disruptive and disrespectful - in speech, tone, content, body language, etc. - the whole time. For example, at one point, he announced that he was withdrawing, and proceeded to grab his bag and head toward the exits (before this Court directed him to stay). He suggested at one point that this Court had somehow put him under arrest. He later declared that he had just vomited in his cup, and offered to show the Court. And so on. Frankly, the display that this Court witnessed tests this Court’s ability to put the conduct into words and fully capture what transpired. For whatever reason, Usharovich was unable to control himself, and was unable to follow repeated admonishments from this Court about how to comport himself. That conduct will not be repeated. His performance was not matched by anyone else in the courtroom. The other defense attorney, Sheldon Sorosky, had no trouble behaving in an appropriate manner, and he comported himself appropriately and professionally throughout the hearing. So did counsel for the government. The Court issues this Order to remind all counsel of the importance of behaving appropriately in the courtroom at all times. Counsel must show respect to the Court, to opposing counsel, and to witnesses at all times. Counsel must not interrupt the Court, or anyone else. Counsel must maintain a respectful tone, and must avoid any belligerent speech or conduct. Counsel must not engage in any disruptive behavior. Counsel must obey orders and comply with this Court’s directives. Counsel must comply with professional standards about civility. Counsel must keep their cool. And counsel must behave like a lawyer at all times. The Court requires all counsel to comply with this Order. All counsel must file a statement on the docket by the end of the day today confirming that they have read and understood this Order. The Court expects full compliance, and expects trial to go smoothly. Everyone has a right to counsel, but no lawyer has a right to behave however they please in a courtroom. If any attorney violates this Order, or engages in any future misconduct of any kind, this Court will issue appropriate relief. That relief can include surrendering the ability to participate in the trial, and other possible remedies.
Whew.
[ *** End Of Update *** ]
* Alton Telegraph…
Dry conditions continue to worsen in Illinois as drought spreads across the state, according to Illinois State Climatologist Trent Ford at the Illinois State Water Survey.
The U.S. Drought Monitor now shows the Chicagoland area, much of central Illinois, and areas along the Missouri border from Quincy to St. Louis are in moderate drought. The northern two-thirds of the state are characterized as abnormally dry.
“Forecasts for the next seven days show continued drier weather with only a few chances of rainfall, and near to above normal temperatures,” Ford said. “Without significant rain in the next week, conditions will likely worsen, and more drought impacts may occur.” […]
Outside of a few areas of heavy rain, most places have had only 25 to 60 percent of normal precipitation in the past 30 days, Ford said, and parts of northeast and western Illinois have had less than 25 percent of normal precipitation since the start of May. Chicago had its fourth driest May on record, and April and May total precipitation in Quincy was the third lowest on record.
* This was in the BIMP. From Crain’s…
[Choose Chicago] and the Metropolitan Pier & Exposition Authority — the agency that owns and operates McCormick Place — also recently got some breathing room on using up the nearly $10 million that remains in an incentive fund to help recruit conventions. The fund, which the state legislature approved during the pandemic to help McCormick Place compete with rival cities, previously needed to be used only on conventions that would be coming by 2026. The group recently won approval to dole out those funds for events that would come later than that, though all the money must be used by the end of 2026, according to a Choose spokesman.
* Wait. According to Rep. Martin McLaughlin, these pre-school deserts would be wiped out by pro-business legislation, or something…
Even though Gov. JB Pritzker has yet to sign the budget bill lawmakers just passed, the Illinois State Board of Education is seeking applicants for some of the new money contained in that bill.
ISBE is looking for new providers to offer preschool programs in areas of the state designated as “preschool deserts,” with the goal of creating 5,000 new preschool slots in the upcoming school year.
The $75 million in new funding available for new preschool slots this year is part of Pritzker’s $250 million “Smart Start Illinois” initiative, a four-year effort that seeks to make early childhood day care and preschool available and affordable to every family in the state who needs it.
* Listen to learn more…
* Todd Maisch arrangements…
A Memorial Visitation will be held on Thursday, June 8, 2023 from 4:00 until 7:00 p.m. at Bisch Funeral Home West, 2931 South Koke Mill Road, Springfield, Illinois 62711. At 7:00 p.m. family and friends will share memories and tributes.
In lieu of flowers, those interested may donate to Share The Spirit Foundation, PO Box 78, Sherman, Illinois 62684 or the Todd Maisch Memorial Fund at INB Bank.
* Isabel’s roundup…
* Illinois Newsroom | Alert issued for unhealthy air quality throughout all of Illinois on Friday: The problem is ground-level ozone. According to a statement from the Illinois EPA, “Ground-level ozone is formed when emissions of nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds from vehicles, power plants, and other industrial sources, react in the presence of sunlight.” People with respiratory or pulmonary disorders are encouraged to take special precautions and follow the regimen prescribed by their doctors.
* WTTW | Chicago Just Had One of Its Driest Mays in History, How Serious Is This Drought?: Lake Michigan isn’t at any risk, but smaller streams and ponds are drying up, and drought-sensitive shrubs and plants, as well as young trees, are likely to be feeling stress too, said Ford. Thanks to irrigation systems and drought-resistant seed strains, so far agricultural crops, particularly commodities like corn and beans, haven’t been impacted.
* Washington Post | Journalists at country’s largest newspaper chain will walk off the job: Hundreds of staffers for 24 Gannett newspapers, including the Arizona Republic, Austin American-Statesman and the Palm Beach Post, say they will not report to work for a day or two starting Monday, forfeiting pay and forgoing assignments ranging from city council meetings to high school sports championship games. At some papers, the strikes begin Tuesday.
* WCIA | Illinois may receive up to $76 million in federal grants to restore land affected by coal mines: As a part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Illinois is one of 22 states and tribes eligible for parts of $725 million this fiscal year to clean up polluted lands affected by coal mines. The federal government will offer $11.3 billion in funding over 15 years to clean up across the country.
* Shaw Local | Eminent domain bill passed by state to help McHenry County with Randall Road project: The project is the last piece of the Randall Road expansion, which first saw construction in 2009 and is slated to wrap up next year, McHenry County Division of Transportation spokesperson Darrell Kuntz said.
* Sun-Times | Ex-priest, who left after sex abuse accusations, settlements, not among 451 predatory clergy Kwame Raoul’s investigation turned up: John D. Murphy, a former Augustinian priest, isn’t on any public list of abusers. The attorney general’s investigation didn’t name him. The Archdiocese of Chicago settled claims over Murphy but doesn’t include him on its list. And his Catholic religious order refuses to name abusive clergy.
* Crain’s | Chicago Housing Authority sued over deal to lease public land to Lightfoot’s billionaire donor: A “no-bid deal” for the 23-acre site was made with Morningstar Inc. Chairman Joe Mansueto, owner of Major League Soccer’s Chicago Fire, even though the land has long been earmarked for public housing to replace units torn down decades ago, according to a suit filed Thursday in federal court.
* Daily Herald | After 2nd bicyclist hit, Batavia asks IDOT to speed up Route 31 safety work: “In light of the recent serious accidents, the city plans to request IDOT (Illinois Department of Transportation) to expedite their review for the road diet so that we may get that implemented as soon as possible,” city administrator Laura Newman announced in a news release Thursday.
* Tribune | City officials, community discuss proposal to transform Diplomat Motel in Lincoln Square into transitional housing for homeless residents: Through the proposal, the Diplomat Motel at 5230 N. Lincoln Ave. would be redeveloped following in the steps of a pilot project in 2020 by which a handful of downtown hotels, including Hotel One Sixty-Six in the Gold Coast, were transformed into supportive housing for 259 individuals.
* Daily Herald | Lake in the Hills bakery that drew protests over drag brunch closes its doors ‘forever’: “I want to be abundantly clear, this is not goodbye,” she wrote. “I promise you will be seeing A LOT of our faces and good outcomes will sprout from the hideous actions of so many against us here. This will not continue to happen to people, not while I have a voice and a beating heart.”
* CNBC | Payrolls rose 339,000 in May, much better than expected in resilient labor market: Payrolls in the public and private sector increased by 339,000 for the month, better than the 190,000 Dow Jones estimate and marking the 29th straight month of positive job growth.
* Crain’s | McDonald’s shareholders veto proposal for DEI policy audit: A proposal from a conservative think tank demanding McDonald’s commission an audit analyzing the effects of its diversity policies was voted down by shareholders. […] The proposal asked the company to analyze the effects of those policies on civil rights, non-discrimination and returns to merit, and the impacts of those issues on McDonald’s business.
* Pantagraph | Moms Demand Action to hold ‘Wear Orange’ event in Bloomington: The sixth annual event will be held at the Western Avenue Community Center, 600 N. Western Ave. in Bloomington. The free family-friendly event will feature more than 15 community partner tables, kids games, art activities with the Illinois Art Station, music and entertainment, 10-11:15 a.m.
* WGN | A few Chicago pro sports teams continue an alliance in 2023: The Chicago Bears, Blackhawks, Bulls, Cubs, and White Sox are continuing the Chicago Sports Alliance which they started in December 2017 in which they are giving financial support and resources to find solutions to gun violence.
* Tribune | Chicago’s favorite barbecue sauce titan makes it into Hall of Fame: Raymond started out in the pharmacy business but was lured into the barbecue game after a salesman came in boasting about his barbecue. “He told me, ‘I make good ribs,’ so I told him that I make great ribs,” Raymond said.
* Tribune | Dale Earnhardt Jr. test drives NASCAR’s Chicago course: “We want to put drivers through some of the toughest challenges we can and I think this track will do that,” said Earnhardt, 48. “There’ll be some guys that really like it. There will be some guys that find it really challenging and miserable.”
* AP | Some trans people turn to crowdfunding to leave Florida after anti-LGBTQ+ laws: For Sage Chelf, the decision to leave hardly felt like a choice, but she didn’t have the funds to cover a move. The 30-year-old trans woman, who lives in the Orlando area, was nearly out of one medication when she found out the clinic that had been prescribing her hormone therapy was ending all treatment for trans patients. […] Chelf hopes to move to Illinois and move in with her girlfriend. The donations to her GoFundMe have restored her faith in humanity.
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Bears dangle possible move to Naperville
Friday, Jun 2, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Daily Herald…
Plans for the Chicago Bears to plant their goal posts in the suburbs took a surprising turn Friday afternoon when Naperville Mayor Scott Wehrli met with team President Kevin Warren to discuss the possibility of building a new NFL stadium in Naperville rather than Arlington Heights.
The meeting between Wehrli and Warren took place despite the team purchasing the 326 acres at Arlington Park on the western edge of Arlington Heights for $197.2 million. The deal to buy the shuttered racetrack closed in February.
Wehrli sent a letter to Warren, dated May 24, that’s termed a formal introduction to the Bears “as you consider or reassess your planned relocation. The city would welcome the opportunity to review your business needs and our available properties.” […]
On Friday, the Bears released a statement saying they are now looking at stadium opportunities other than Arlington Park.
“We will continue the ongoing demolition activity and work toward a path forward in Arlington Heights, but it is no longer our singular focus,” Scott Hagel, the Bears senior vice president of marketing and communications said in a statement. “It is our responsibility to listen to other municipalities in Chicagoland about potential locations that can deliver on this transformational opportunity for our fans, our club and the state of Illinois.”
* Tribune…
Arlington Heights Mayor Tom Hayes said he understands that the Bears are a for-profit business and have to pursue all opportunities.
“I would be doing the same thing, explore all my options and pick the best one,” he said. “I still think Arlington Heights is the best option.”
The team is unlikely to find such a prime property as the former Arlington Park, Hayes said, with 326 mostly open acres next to major roadways and with its own commuter train station. And the Bears already own the land.
The mayor encouraged the school districts and the team to continue negotiations over property taxes, with the requirement that any deal would be a long-term economic boost for the team and the region.
Could the company just be using Naperville as bargaining leverage? Your thoughts?
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* Center Square…
Despite the Illinois General Assembly taking no action in extending the Invest in Kids school choice scholarship program, the governor says it still may be approved this year.
The program, which grants tax credits to people who use private dollars to fund scholarships that allow students to attend private schools, is scheduled to sunset Dec. 31, if legislative action isn’t taken.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker said lawmakers could approve an extension during a special session or during the fall veto session, but that the tax credit portion of the program needs to be reworked.
“I think we should have tax credits that support education and other things in state government, but we also have the federal government willing to cover about 40% of the cost,” Pritzker said at an unrelated event in Champaign Wednesday. “Why have we created a program in which we’re paying for 75% of it and not having the rest of the country essentially paying 40%?”
More from Pritzker’s quote…
This is a problem in the fundamental makeup of it. And I’ve suggested to the General Assembly if they decide to renew Invest in Kids, let’s alleviate the burden on Illinois taxpayers and make sure that, frankly, as other states do, let’s let other states pay in part for the benefit that we get.
I called the governor’s office to ask for clarification. The way the state tax credit is written, people who donate to Invest in Kids can’t claim any federal income tax deduction. But the law can be rewritten to allow for that.
* Meanwhile, you may have noticed that the Tribune has given failed mayoral candidate Paul Vallas a regular column. His latest is about Invest in Kids and quotes both Wirepoints and the Illinois Policy Institute…
Chalkbeat Chicago reports that Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s 2024 budget, just approved in Springfield, adds another $570 million in education funding, a 6.2% increase that brings annual K-12 funding to $10.3 billion. And yet the legislature could not muster the courage to extend the modest Illinois Invest in Kids tax credit scholarship program.
Illinois Education Association President Kathi Griffin, in now classic union fashion, has said that “once we get to fully funding our schools, then let’s talk about adding these types of programs.” Hogwash!
Personally, I’d like to see an analysis of whether the students/parents who’ve benefited from the program were receiving similar scholarships before Invest in Kids was begun, or whether they’re all new to the private school system.
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Question of the day
Friday, Jun 2, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I attended the University of Maryland in Munich in 1980-81. Two of my classmates were nicknamed “Big Steve” and “Little Steve.” Little Steve wasn’t small, but he looked small compared to his best friend Big Steve, who was a body-builder and had placed second in the Mr. Southwest Germany contest. The two made decent money working as stagehands at Munich concert venues. Through those connections, they were invited to work on the massive set at the 8-day Pink Floyd concert in Dortmund, West Germany (back when there was a West Germany). The band was promoting their fantastically popular album The Wall.
As I recall, the setup took two weeks and the tear-down lasted a week. They unloaded 10 (maybe it was 20, I can’t remember now) semi-trucks. It was quite an impressive set…
The problem, really, with the show is that it wasn’t a touring show, so it had to be set up, and left, and taken down again. There were a lot of light operators and stage operators and wall builders. Because of the amount of stuff that went up and down, floated across, did this, did that, there were a lot of operators, rather than just people putting stuff up. And, of course we had lots of semis, as I believe you call them, because of the special lighting pods that we used which needed, each one needs a trailer unit to hold it. And the special stage, because of the way the stage was actually used, there was a sort of structural bracing piece for the building of the wall. So it was all special equipment, I mean it was absurdly expensive. It’s not something other people will do, generally, because it’s just so expensive to put on, it’s simply not feasible. But it was great to have done it once.
They built a wall during every show and then the stagehands took it down every night. Big Steve didn’t have to mess with those daily tasks, though, because the band took one look at the guy and hired him as a bodyguard and he rode the helicopter with them back and forth to the venue and stayed on their private hotel floor. Pretty sweet.
The two missed more than a month of college, but somehow managed to stay enrolled. And they made bank.
* Anyway, I thought about all of that last night when I saw this…
50 trucks? That’s a lot of costume changes.
* The Question: Your all-time favorite concert experience?
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* Block Club Chicago…
Chicago saw its most fentanyl-related deaths ever in 2022, with the drug — widely responsible for a surge in fatal opioid overdoses in recent years — linked to 1,307 deaths in the city last year, compared to 1,289 in 2021, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Fentanyl-related deaths skyrocketed during the pandemic, leading to 2022’s record number — but that surge is beginning to slow, though deaths remain high, officials said. There have been at least 391 fentanyl-related overdoses so far this year in Chicago, compared to 669 over the same period in 2022.
Black and Latino Chicagoans have been disproportionately affected by the fatal overdoses.
Sarah Richardson, of the Behavioral Health team at the Chicago Department of Public Health, said steadying numbers are an encouraging sign. Growing public awareness of opioid overdoses and understanding of addiction are helping — as well as the more widespread distribution and use of Narcan, which can reduce fatal overdoses, Richardson said. […]
Local officials and groups have worked to bring down opioid overdoses by trying new approaches: Chicago’s public libraries distribute Narcan, people leaving Cook County Jail are given harm reduction kits, the health department will mail people fentanyl test strips and the CTA has a Narcan vending machine coming to its 95th Red Line station.
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* NBC News…
The number of migrants illegally crossing the southwest U.S. border is at its lowest point since the start of the Biden administration, with just over 3,000 migrants stopped by Border Patrol each day. The number has plummeted from more than 10,000 daily just three weeks ago, despite widespread predictions of a surge after the end of the Title 42 Covid ban on May 11.
And there may also be fewer migrants waiting just across the border to cross. Shortly before Title 42 was lifted, Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz estimated that up to 65,000 migrants were living in shelters and tent cities in Mexico, ready to enter the U.S. While numbers for tent cities were unavailable, the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration said the population of 130-plus shelters in northern Mexico had fallen from above 25,000 on May 19 to just over 20,000 on Monday. […]
Customs and Border Protection officials also attribute the slowdown in illegal border crossings to “consequences.” Under Title 42, migrants could repeatedly try to cross the U.S.-Mexico border and face no consequences if they were turned back. After Title 42 ended, migrants who are caught illegally entering the U.S. are charged with a felony if they are deported and caught trying to re-enter the U.S. within five years, a reimposition of an older regulation called Title 8. A CBP official said word of the increased penalties and deportations — of the “consequences” — has reached migrants considering crossing. […]
A Department of Homeland Security official said the agency also attributes the decline to the policy known as asylum ineligibility put in place after the ending of Title 42. Under the new policy, migrants who do not first seek asylum in countries they pass through on the way to the U.S. are deemed ineligible to apply for asylum at the U.S. border, unless they were denied by a country they passed through or they prove they meet a special set of criteria, such as being potential victims of torture if they are deported.
Other factors include the rainy season discouraging travel. Also, the ACLU is suing to block the asylum ineligibility policy, according to the report.
I’ve been checking out El Paso news media outlets the past week or so, including the local Fox affiliate, and I didn’t see any stories about mass crossings. That’s a marked change from a few weeks ago, when national news media was filled with dire predictions about that border crossing. The migrants bused north were mainly from the El Paso crossing.
However, Chicago was only being shipped a small fraction of all asylum-seekers, so don’t get your hopes up yet that the Texas-funded influx will ease.
* Related…
* From Woodlawn to West Ridge, migrants live in temporary shelters across Chicago: Roughly 10,000 new arrivals have come to Chicago since August of last year — and more than 4,000 of them are living in shelters across the city. To serve these migrants, city officials are currently operating 10 shelters and respite centers in neighborhoods across the city — including the Inn in Streeterville. Some of these shelters have been met with pushback because residents argue the resources dedicated to asylum-seekers should instead be poured into their own disinvested communities. But no neighborhood or section of the city is exclusively bearing the responsibility of providing a place to eat and sleep for asylum-seekers. Shelters span from Woodlawn to West Ridge, from Humboldt Park to Streeterville.
* Little Village is a model for how to help migrants build new lives: Hyperlocal organizing strategies have been successful specifically because of a strong network of support: a group of people who, regardless of where they work or who they work for, are familiar with and trust each other because of relationships fostered for many years. We update each other daily through group texting, and have weekly check-in calls to share what is happening on the frontlines.
* One-Day Donation Drive Will Collect Items For Migrants On Northwest Side: Ald. Samantha Nugent (39th), the Irish American Heritage Center, community groups and Northwest Side leaders are hosting a donation drive 3-7 p.m. Monday at the center, 4626 N. Knox Ave., to collect items for migrants. People can donate medical items, personal hygiene products, educational materials, food and water, event organizers said.
* For migrants, used bikes offer a path forward in an unfamiliar city: In the past few weeks, organizers with Bike Grid Now and Communities United have teamed up to repair used bikes and convert donated bike parts into functioning cycles for people seeking asylum in the city. The work, which started with a few bikes, is scaling into a bigger pipeline project as more donations of equipment and money pour in — and as more migrants arrive.
* Tempers flare at community meeting about housing migrants at Richard J. Daley College: “You’re not treating our own with any dignity and respect, but you’re treating the immigrants with a lot of dignity and respect. I have a problem with that,” said Juanita Eason, who lives on the Southwest Side. … Officials [say] moving people into Wright College reduced the number of migrants sleeping at police stations from more than 800 last week to less than 640 now.
* 400 Migrants Will Move Into Daley College This Weekend, But Some Neighbors Oppose City’s Plan: Patrice Beamon, an 18th Ward resident, said she recently drove by the 6th District police station and saw people laying on the concrete outside and in the lobby. She urged her neighbors to think about how they can help. “We’re trying to come up with solutions, but it’s not going to be solved by us attacking one another,” Beamon said, leading to applause from the crowd. “The most important thing is our humanity. When we lose that, we have lost everything.”
* Edgewater Residents Call for Answers as City Eyes Broadway Armory as Possible Migrant Center: “We couldn’t believe it,” said Linda White, an Edgewater resident. “There’s so many wonderful programs here — dance, fitness and wellness for all the kids and the seniors. They said this will all be shut down and it will become a shelter.” … The building has multiple rooms, five gymnasiums, showers, several bathrooms and a kitchen. “I don’t think I would feel that put out by it, compared with the needs of the migrants,” Buckley said. “It’s a good space and it should be used and hopefully move them on to better housing.”
* Illinois hotel industry, downtown residents speak out on migrant crisis: According to the association, many of these individuals are staying in hotels that are understaffed and urgently require various positions to be filled, including housekeeping staff, culinary workers, front desk personnel, customer service representatives, and sales and marketing employees. Michael Jacobson, President and CEO of the Illinois Hotel & Lodging Association, has underscored the importance of addressing this situation promptly. “That’s the crazy thing about this is that we have 1,600 open positions in hotels just in the city of Chicago and we have thousands of migrants looking to work. The math doesn’t add up. People want to work and we have positions open for them and yet, our federal government is telling them you have to wait six months until we allow you to work. Something needs to change here,” Jacobson said.
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* Greg Sargent and Paul Waldman at the Washington Post…
We have also learned that nine Democratic governors representing nearly 9 million students have sent a letter to leading textbook companies decrying “the negative impact that censorship and book-banning has on this nation’s students.” The letter indicates that the governors are watching closely to see if attacks on the companies by right-wing governors — such as DeSantis — are producing books that are “inappropriately censored.”
Phil Murphy, governor of New Jersey and the head of the Democratic Governors Association, says these governors will be modeling an alternative to right-wing censorship going forward.
“There’s a broad lane available for Democratic governors to reclaim the mantle of core American values — freedom, patriotism, rights,” Murphy told us. Murphy recently responded to DeSantis’s restrictions on an Advanced Placement course on African American studies by expanding the number of such classes in his state.
* Illinois’ governor signed the letter…
Dear Textbook Publishers,
We are deeply troubled by the news of some textbook publishers yielding to the unreasonable demands of certain government representatives calling for the censorship of school educational materials, specifically textbooks.
We write to you out of concern that those who are charged with supporting the education of this country’s students, such as yourselves, may be tempted to water down critical information to appeal to the lowest common denominator. We urge any company who has not yet given in to this pressure to hold the line for our democracy.
Our country’s future is at stake. You hold enormous influence in shaping how our great nation’s history is told, and the consequences of your actions will reverberate for generations to come. Honestly grappling with our legacy has long been a cornerstone of American patriotism. If we are to continue striving for a more perfect union, then we must carry out our duty of ensuring future generations understand our full history as well as the contributions of all its people. That includes learning from our mistakes. These lessons are vital to preparing our youth to fully engage in a free and fair democracy. Sanitizing our educational texts for the mercurial comfort of a few today ultimately limits the next generation’s ability to make informed decisions for themselves. Moreover, the negative impact that censorship and book-banning has on this nation’s students – many already marginalized and underrepresented in society – cannot be overstated during a time when we are facing an unprecedented youth mental health crisis. Each and every single student in the United States of America has the right to exist, to be seen, and to be represented.
It is an important priority of our administrations to ensure that any educational materials censored to appeal to political pressure do not negatively impact our educational goals and values in our states. As such, please know that we will be working closely with all of our school districts to ensure they are fully informed of which texts include comprehensive and accurate educational information – and which have been inappropriately censored – when they consider procurement of instructional materials for the nearly nine million students our states serve.
…Adding… From the governor’s office…
In addition to the Association of American Publishers, the letter was sent to:
Cengage Learning
Goodheart-Willcox
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
McGraw Hill Education
Pearson
Routledge Taylor and Francis Group
Savvas Learning Co.
Scholastic
Teachers Curriculum Institute
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* Yesterday…
Today, Appellate Court Justice Jesse Reyes officially announced his candidacy to become a member of the Illinois Supreme Court. He was joined by community leaders, members of the judiciary, and friends and family. State Senator Omar Aquino introduced Justice Reyes. The program can be viewed here.
Transcript from Justice Jesse Reyes’ Announcement:
“Four years ago, I stood in this location and announced my candidacy for the Illinois Supreme Court. In a field of seven honorable candidates, in spite of the challenges of the COVID pandemic and having to contend with the disadvantage of not receiving the endorsement of the Cook County Democratic Party, our team came in a close second. Since that time, I have continued to serve the public on and off the bench.
So, you may ask, Why am I here today? It’s simple. The Illinois Supreme Court should be reflective of the community at large it serves. While the court has made some strides in advancing the cause of diversity and inclusion, including gains in representing women and African Americans on the bench. The fact remains that, unfortunately, the largest minority group in Illinois and Cook County – the Latino Community - continues to be excluded from our state’s highest court. Latinos are a critical part of our state. Yet our lived experiences as Latinos are missing from the court. Our numbers and contributions to our state necessitate that we be part of the state’s highest court. It should be further noted that in the past five years, there were three opportunities to rectify this significant omission from the bench. Think about it, three times in just five years, there has been an opportunity to appoint a Latino to the Illinois Supreme Court. Three times the Latino community has been ignored.
Diversity on the bench is something that I have always advocated for throughout my career as a lawyer and a judge. My passion for inclusion in the legal profession is what has motivated me to continually promote diversity even when it was not a popular concept in our society. Recognizing we are all immigrants or the descendants of immigrants, I have always advocated and supported the efforts of other communities in promoting diversity and inclusion and not only when it was personally convenient or politically beneficial. I do so because it is the right thing to do, and I will continue to do so today, tomorrow, and forever.
So Today, I formally announce my candidacy for the Illinois Supreme Court vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Anne Burke.
I am running because representation matters.
I am running because, in the words of Marian Wright Edelman, “You can’t be what you can’t see.”
I am running so that generations of young people will have a point on the compass to guide them.
I am running because, as a product of a blue-collar immigrant family, I have never forgotten where I came from and never will.
I am running because I believe in diversity and inclusion for all, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, or sexual orientation.”
Let’s be clear, because of equality and equity, it is time to add a Latino to the Illinois Supreme Court.
# # #
About Justice Jesse Reyes
Raised in Chicago’s Pilsen and Bridgeport neighborhoods, he is the oldest of four children and the first in his family to attend high school and college. In 1997, Reyes was elected Associate Judge by his peers on the Circuit Court. In 2006, Reyes became the first Latino to lead the Illinois Judges Association. Reyes was elected to the First District Appellate Court in November of 2012, becoming the first Latino elected to the Illinois Appellate Court.
Reyes is the founding member and current president of the Diversity Scholarship Foundation. He is also a founding member and the former president of the Illinois Judges Foundation. He has served as president and member of many other Bar Associations throughout the years. In addition, The North Suburban Bar Association recently created the Justice Jesse G. Reyes Student Scholarship. Jesse and his wife, Terry, live on Chicago’s Southwest Side. Their daughter, Renee, is currently a high school teacher.
Reyes finished second behind P. Scott Neville, Jr. in the 2020 Supreme Court primary. He’ll face appointed incumbent Justice Joy Cunningham, who replaced retired Justice Anne Burke last year.
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Isabel’s morning briefing
Friday, Jun 2, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* Here you go…
* Capitol News Illinois | State board of education looking for new providers in preschool ‘deserts’: ISBE is looking for new providers to offer preschool programs in areas of the state designated as “preschool deserts,” with the goal of creating 5,000 new preschool slots in the upcoming school year. The $75 million in new funding available for new preschool slots this year is part of Pritzker’s $250 million “Smart Start Illinois” initiative, a four-year effort that seeks to make early childhood day care and preschool available and affordable to every family in the state who needs it.
* Center Square | Pritzker tours state discussing increased taxpayer-funded education in the state’s budget: “It has been the mission of my governorship to not only reverse the harm that has been done but to shape an Illinois that truly uplifts our residents from cradle to career,” Pritzker said.
* Capitol News Illinois | Lawmakers approve measure giving utilities control over new downstate transmission lines: The measure applies to companies that already own or operate electric transmission lines under the purview of the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, or MISO, the grid operator for a wide swath of the Midwest, including much of downstate and parts of northwestern Illinois.
* Bonus | Illinois Passes Bill Allowing Casinos to Hire People with Felony Convictions:The bill also gives the gaming board the power to review each licensee and refuse a permit to anyone deemed a threat to the state’s public interests or gaming integrity. IGB will consider the time since conviction, the number and severity of the charges, and more when deciding.
* Tribune |Indiana now ranked first among inland ports, second in Great Lakes ports by feds: The state was previously counted as having multiple small port districts but now has just two. The southern district includes facilities run by the Ports of Indiana in Mount Vernon and Jeffersonville, along with private terminals along the Ohio River from Posey County to Dearborn County. The northern district includes the Ports of Indiana’s Burns Harbor terminal in addition to private terminals and steel mills along Indiana’s Lake Michigan coastline.
* Daily Herald | Why the DuPage Water Commission wants to spend billions for own pipeline from Lake Michigan: “The question becomes can we build a new system and have it cost less than $120 million a year,” said Paul May, water commission executive director. “As concluded by that report, the answer is yes.”
* Sun-Times | Judge silences, scolds attorney for Berrios relative who faces trial Monday for bribing state lawmaker:James T. Weiss’ attorney wound up having to raise his hand to speak in court, including when he said he had to use the bathroom. He claimed he’d been unlawfully restrained and had thrown up in a cup. He told the judge, “look at the cup!”
* Chicago Law Bulletin | Jesse Reyes announces 2nd run for Illinois Supreme Court:Appellate Justice Jesse G. Reyes announced his candidacy for the Illinois Supreme Court at a press conference Wednesday in Chicago, saying the court should reflect the community it serves. — Grace Barbic/Chicago Daily Law BulletinFirst District Appellate Court Justice Jesse G. Reyes announced Wednesday his candidacy for the Illinois Supreme Court next year. He will be running for the seat held by Justice Joy V. Cunningham, who was appointed when former Chief Justice Anne M. Burke retired Nov. 30.
* Erickson Institute | Erikson Institute Receives $8 Million from MacKenzie Scott to Advance Equity in Early Childhood:Erikson Institute has announced an $8 million unrestricted gift from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott. In keeping with MacKenzie Scott’s charitable vision of advancing opportunities for people in underinvested and underserved communities, the funds associated with this transformational gift will fuel Erikson’s mission of building equitable and just futures for young children, their families, and communities. The gift is a testament to the vision and work of Erikson Institute, under the leadership of President Mariana Souto-Manning, Ph.D.
* Tribune | Watchdog group seeks to cut more than $110 million from record Peoples Gas rate hike request: Targeting everything from the “mismanaged” pipeline project to high residential heating costs, the consumer watchdog group recommended slashing $63 million from the proposal, with the Illinois attorney general’s office expected to seek $49 million in additional reductions.
* Tribune | Civic Committee announces initiative to tackle public safety as ‘the No. 1 issue’ in Chicago: “The issue of public safety is the No. 1 issue for pretty much everyone in the city of Chicago,” said Derek Douglas, who became the first Black president of the Civic Committee in August. “And the business community is no different.”
* WBEZ | There’s a surge in calls for shelter. Chicago’s 311 help line can’t keep up: Data analysis by WBEZ also shows a declining percentage of calls appear to result in a placement. But it’s hard to measure how well the system is working because of several major flaws in the 311 data system the city uses to track shelter requests. “The demand for resources, be it through 311 to get people into a shelter or any other piece of the shelter system, is so much greater than what the system can handle,” said Douglas Schenkelberg, the director of the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless.
* WTTW | Edgewater Residents Call for Answers as City Eyes Broadway Armory as Possible Migrant Center:“We couldn’t believe it,” said Linda White, an Edgewater resident. “There’s so many wonderful programs here — dance, fitness and wellness for all the kids and the seniors. They said this will all be shut down and it will become a shelter.” White said in May a group of city officials looked at the property along with Ald. Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth (48th Ward). It’s a move that makes White believe the plan to convert this facility into housing for migrants is highly possible.
* Sun-Times | Inside the political survival of Chicago City Council dean: “I’m the type of guy that, when I’m in with you, I’m in 100%,” Burnett said. “I went that extra mile working on his campaign for county commissioner, and he won. You could say … we’re part of his success because, if he wouldn’t have been county commissioner, he wouldn’t have run for mayor, and he wouldn’t be where he is today.”
* Center Square | Illinois General Assembly fails to address the state’s biometric privacy law: Business groups have been pleading with lawmakers to address the law, which has spawned hundreds of lawsuits, none of which have proven harm to anyone. “No data breaches, no lost information, but billions of dollars have already been paid out with more on the way, and it’s already having a significant impact on our economy,” said Mark Denzler, CEO and president of the Illinois Manufacturers Association.
* AP | Peregrine falcons protecting chicks and dive-bombing Chicago pedestrians:Just ask Chuck Valauskas, who was struck by one of the falcons. The patent attorney was leaving work one day last week, walking below the nest situated on a seventh-floor ledge when he felt a thud on his head.
* Crain’s | New figures show tourists flocked back to Chicago in 2022: Officials from Choose Chicago announced today that visitation to the city during 2022 was up 60% from 2021 as public health restrictions faded and a surge of leisure travelers poured in during peak tourism months. The total, reported by the city’s official destination marketing group using data from travel research firm DK Shifflet, was roughly 80% of the 2019 figure, when the city boasted a record 60.8 million visitors.
* Crain’s | State chamber chief Todd Maisch has died: “Todd was a fierce champion for the business community and an integral part of major policy wins for our economy, namely the Blue Collar Jobs Act and the historic Rebuild Illinois capital bill,” Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch said in a statement. “Though Todd and I often found ourselves at opposite ends of policy debates, I knew he was driven by an adoration for our state and a sincere commitment to doing what he believed was right.”
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Live coverage
Friday, Jun 2, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
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Afternoon roundup
Thursday, Jun 1, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Lee Enterprises took a look at the racial spread between police departments/sheriffs’ offices and the communities they serve.
The narrowest gap was in Rock Island County, which is 30.4 percent people of color and the sheriff’s office is 27.69 percent people of color.
The widest gap was in Macon County, where the population is 25.2 percent people of color and yet the sheriff’s office is 100 percent White.
Illinois as a whole is 40 percent persons of color and the Illinois State Police is 19.43 percent persons of color.
Anyway, click here to see if your community is on the list.
* Illinois Gaming Machine Operators Association…
Tazewell County Circuit Court Judge Paul E. Bauer has ruled that the City of Pekin’s ordinance taxing video gaming is unlawful and barred by state law, resulting in a major victory for Illinois small businesses and their customers.
Pekin officials in October approved a city ordinance assessing a “fee” worth 2.5 percent of net revenues received by any video gaming machine registered to do business in the city. The ordinance called for proceeds from the fee to be split between the City’s police and fire pension funds. Violations could trigger fines of up to $750 a day. Two members of the Illinois Gaming Machine Operators Association, which represents the companies that provide video gaming terminals in thousands of small businesses across the state, sued the City of Pekin late last year in Tazewell County Circuit Court.
The IGMOA members — J&J Ventures Gaming, LLC, and Accel Entertainment Gaming, LLC – argued that the City’s so-called “fee” is in reality an illegal tax on terminal operators. Such a tax is “unauthorized, is unlawful and unenforceable” because the state’s Video Gaming Act bars them, the plaintiffs argued in their lawsuit filed in December 2022.
The order is here.
* This is not CNN’s Sanjay Gupta…
Governor JB Pritzker announced today that he has named Sanjay Gupta, a national IT leader with private and public sector experience, to serve as the new Secretary of the Department of Innovation and Technology (DoIT), pending Senate confirmation. Gupta has served in major roles across the public and private sectors, including running the federal government’s pandemic aid portals for small businesses and serving as a board member of the federal Technology Modernization Fund.
“Sanjay Gupta brings invaluable expertise in public and private sector information technology to DoIT,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “His previous work and vision for enterprise architecture, digital transformation, and user experience make him a vital addition to the agency. I am confident that this team will lead the nation in cybersecurity, service delivery, and user experience.”
Previously, Gupta was the Chief Information Officer for the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review. He also served for more than four years as Chief Technology Officer of the U.S. Small Business Administration, where his efforts to modernize the agency allowed it to process more than $1 trillion in loans for the nation’s largest economic recovery effort.
Prior to his career in public service, he spent nearly 20 years in management and as a consultant and analyst in leading global technology organizations, including several companies based in Illinois.
“I want to thank Governor Pritzker for giving me the opportunity to serve the people of Illinois, my adopted home,” said Sanjay Gupta. “Over decades in IT, I’ve learned how to apply the private sector’s best practices to government work. The team at DoIT has propelled the state forward tremendously in the past five years, and I look forward to working with the committed professionals in Illinois.”
Gupta holds a Bachelor of Science from Punjab Engineering College, a Master of Science from Wayne State University, and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Michigan. He and his wife raised their two daughters in the suburbs of Chicago, where they lived for more than two decades.
Acting Secretary Brandon Ragle will take on the new role of Deputy Secretary, pending Senate confirmation. Ragle has served the state for over 30 years and will work closely with the new Secretary, providing invaluable insight into the agency’s operations. During his tenure as Acting Secretary, DoIT was upgraded by the Digital States report to an A-, receiving accolades for its connected infrastructure, resilience and cybersecurity, and data-driven government.
“Brandon is an essential asset to modernizing our technology for the people of Illinois, and he is part of a strong leadership team that is widely acknowledged nationally as a model,” Governor Pritzker said. “He stepped up at a critical time for the agency, and I want to recognize his contributions with this important new role.”
* But, didn’t Rep. Chris Miller tell us that this climate change thing doesn’t exist?…
Bloomington, Illinois-based State Farm has announced it will no longer insure new homes or businesses in California due to the high wildfire risk and increased construction costs. State Farm is the second insurance carrier to stop offering coverage due to wildfires. Last year, AIG notified thousands of state homeowners their policies would not be renewed. California has experienced a record amount of wildfires in the past few years.
*Blows into the microphone*
* Press release…
Senate Majority Leader Kimberly A. Lightford championed legislation in 2021 to ensure that the people of Illinois understood that Black history is American history. This year she is building upon that monumental measure by encouraging people to celebrate Juneteenth and reminding them of the reason for the holiday.
“Juneteenth being a state holiday reminds us that freedom and racial equality have always been a hard-fought battle for Black Americans,” said Lightford (D-Maywood). “This day gives everyone an opportunity to celebrate Black culture, Black achievements, and learn more about Black history.”
In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which established that all enslaved people in Confederate states were forever free. However, it was not until two years later in June of 1865 that federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas to enforce the proclamation freeing the last of slaves in the United States.
In 2021, Lightford championed House Bill 3922, which established June 19 as a state holiday for Juneteenth National Freedom Day. It is now a paid day off holiday for all state employees and a school holiday.
Today, Juneteenth has grown from the celebration of the abolition of slavery into a celebration of Black arts, culture, and the impacts of the civil rights movement throughout the country.
“The struggle for our people to achieve full equity in Illinois and across the nation continues still to this day,” Lightford said. “Juneteenth recognizes our accomplishments, our achievements, our culture, and reminds us that our fight is not over.”
…Adding… Not a good sign when the appellate court calls your appeal frivolous…
…Adding… U of I…
The University of Illinois Flash Index for May 2023 increased to 103.2 from 102.9 in April. This continues the perplexing path of the U. S. and Illinois economies with most observers still waiting for at least a mild recession that has yet to materialize.
“Reversing last month’s weak performance, Illinois tax receipts (the major components of the Flash Index) for May were surprisingly robust.”
Both individual income and corporate tax receipts were up in real terms compared to May 2022 while sales tax receipts were down only slightly after adjusting for inflation. Even more confounding, both the national and Illinois unemployment rates declined, falling in Illinois to 4.2% to a post-Covid recession low.
“It is still too early to claim a soft landing following the strong recovery from the recession. Watchful waiting continues.”
The Flash Index is a weighted average of Illinois growth rates in corporate earnings, consumer spending, and personal income as estimated from receipts for corporate income, individual income, and retail sales taxes. These revenues are adjusted for inflation before growth rates are calculated. The growth rate for each component is then calculated for the 12-month period using data through May 31, 2023. Over three years since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, ad hoc adjustments are still needed.
* Isabel’s roundup…
* Center Square | Pritzker: Invest in Kids program may be renewed this year, but with changes: “I think we should have tax credits that support education and other things in state government, but we also have the federal government willing to cover about 40% of the cost,” Pritzker said at an unrelated event in Champaign Wednesday. “Why have we created a program in which we’re paying for 75% of it and not having the rest of the country essentially paying 40%?”
* Crain’s | Rivian may lose Nasdaq spot after 90% selloff, JPMorgan says: The index typically removes the smallest members of the Nasdaq 100 if the company is weighted at less than 0.1% of the gauge for two consecutive months, JPMorgan analyst Min Moon writes in a note on Thursday. As Rivian was below 0.1% as of April 28 and May 31, Moon expects the carmaker to be excluded from the index on the third Friday of June.
* Tribune | ‘Class of COVID’: For this year’s graduating seniors, the pandemic dominated and defined high school: “I firmly believe that students are not able to perform academically if they don’t have the social-emotional supports that they need,” she said. “They are going to have a tough time focusing on school work if they’re experiencing depression or anxiety, if they’ve got social issues happening.”
* Sun-Times | Chicago Police Department’s reform chief resigns, claims ‘retaliation’: Tina Skahill’s exit comes just months after the ouster of her predecessor Robert Boik, who was fired after criticizing former Police Supt. David Brown’s decision to reassign nearly 50 officers under his command.
* Sun-Times | ‘I’ll get you,’ brother of Goonie Boss gang leader allegedly warns witness at trial: Romeo “O-Dog” Blackman is on trial along with two other members of the South Side gang tied to an indictment that connected them to 10 slayings across 30 months from 2014 to 2016. The witness, a former Goonie Boss gang member who agreed to cooperate with the feds, testified in court Tuesday that Romeo Blackman had confessed to the January 2014 slaying of a person whom the brothers suspected of being a police informant.
* WBEZ | ‘State of Black Chicago’ highlights outcome disparities between Black and white Chicagoans: A new report by the Chicago Urban League highlights significant disparities in the educational, economic and health outcomes between Black and white residents in the city. The 2023 “State of Black Chicago” report predicts local businesses will close, public schools in Black neighborhoods will continue to underperform and Black residents will be pushed out of their neighborhoods if inequity isn’t addressed.
* Illinois Times | City of Springfield cited for refusal to cover gender-affirming care: After being denied health coverage for hormone treatments to support her identity as a transgender woman, a former Lincoln Library manager says she is happy to work for a Chicago-area library where her employer’s plan pays for gender-affirming care.
* ABC Chicago | Evanston meeting to give update on reparations program Thursday: The city is now allowing cash payouts and a real estate transfer tax is added to its revenue stream after the tax from cannabis sales were not enough.
* Illinois Newsroom | Decatur Public Schools temporarily closes 2 campuses over structural concerns: DPS spokesperson Denise Swarthout said a structural engineer visited the campuses Tuesday and voiced concerns. The district is having another engineer look at the buildings by the end of the week and will update staff then. The two Dennis Lab Schools are Decatur’s oldest and most historic school buildings, dating back to 1910 and 1914.
* Press Release | Gov. Pritzker Announces New Manufacturing Facility in Southern Illinois: Governor JB Pritzker, Manner Polymers, and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) today joined local leaders and partners to announce Manner Polymers’ new manufacturing facility in Mount Vernon. Known as an industry manufacturing leader in polymer compounds, Manner Polymers’ new state-of-the-art Illinois facility will manufacture a wide array of PVC compounds, including automotive PVC compounds for use in electric vehicles (EVs) and components for solar panels.
* Willie Wilson | Unions can help reduce violence in Chicago with apprenticeships and jobs: Unions profess a devotion to racial equity, yet it is clear the rung on the ladder to the middle class remains elusive for African Americans and women in the building and construction trades. Chicago’s labor movement dates to 1864, and labor’s influence now dominates the Illinois political landscape. Mayor Brandon Johnson, a former union organizer, could use his influence to get trade unions to open up apprenticeship opportunities for those mired in poverty and hopelessness.
* WCIA | Drought declared across Central Illinois: After a few weeks of abnormally dry conditions growing in the region, the declaration comes as rainfall totals have been in some areas less than 1/2 of normal for the month of April and May.
* ABC Chicago | See the Chicago NASCAR street race course, plus street closures and parking restrictions: The Cup Series Race, named the “Grant Park 220,” and the Xfinity Series Race, called “The Loop 121,” will pass through many of Chicago’s most renowned downtown landmarks, July 1 through 2.
* WGN | Prison time for boater who ran illegal charter operations on Chicago waterways: Christopher Mike Garbowski admitted to using a 40-foot powerboat known as “Sea Hawk” and “Anchorman” from 2017 to 2019 for personal profit, as he charged money to charter the boat to groups of passengers. […] The Coast Guard notified Garbowski about the federal regulations on multiple occasions. In one instance, prosecutors alleged that Garbowski called a potential customer by phone and asked that she lie to Coast Guard personnel by pretending they were friends with him.
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Question of the day
Thursday, Jun 1, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Isabel used hizzoner’s tweet in her question yesterday, so let’s start with this mayoral update for the doubters…
Missouri’s legislature has a bad habit of playing ringers in the Illinois vs. Missouri Bi-State Softball Showdown. So, maybe Mayor Johnson could be persuaded to play in Busch Stadium this August.
* The Question: Your season prediction for your favorite MLB team?
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DCFS responds to yet another explosive report
Thursday, Jun 1, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* CBS 2…
A 9-year-old girl was locked up in a psychiatric hospital for weeks after her care was complete. The overstay racked up tens of thousands of dollars in bills.
CBS 2’s Chris Tye reported that the state used money left by her dead father to pay themselves back for that care and that the case was raced in front of a judge late on Wednesday.
CBS 2 has reported on kids being left in offices and hospitals for weeks or months because there was no place to put them.
But the Cook County Public Guardian said this girl’s case is a first: taking money from the accounts of vulnerable kids, money left by their deceased parents to reimburse for pricey nights in the hospital that the kids didn’t need.
Kids in the care of the Department of Children and Family Services, or DCFS, the state’s child welfare agency, can linger for months inside psychiatric hospitals after their care is complete and there’s nowhere to move them.
Kids in the care of the Department of Children and Family Services, or DCFS, the state’s child welfare agency, can linger for months inside psychiatric hospitals after their care is complete and there’s nowhere to move them.
The Cook County Public Guardian told CBS 2 a 9-year-old girl was left at one hospital, locked up in the psychiatric ward unnecessarily for about one month beyond medical necessity in 2019.
The unnecessary stay came with a price tag of $34,200.
But in the case of this girl, DCFS also managed her money.
When the girl’s father died in 2014, she became the beneficiary of his social security benefits, which have grown to over $118,000. Because that 2019 hospital overstay wasn’t medically necessary, Medicaid refused to pay. DCFS was on the line for it, so they dipped into the girl’s inheritance to pay themselves back.
“It’s just outrageous,” said Cook County Public Guardian Charles Golbert. “So last week, we sent DCFS a letter saying ‘Hey, just do the right thing.’”
In the letter, the public guardian’s office called on DCFS to repay the $34,200 by Tuesday, May 30. They added that all dollars, “should have stayed in the account and be made available to her adoptive parents … instead, the account has been drained.”
“And DCFS wrote to us last night and said no,” Golbert said. “So we’re going to court this afternoon to get this little girl her money.”
Keep in mind that this happened four years ago. Also, since then, a new state law has taken effect which requires the state to set aside between 40-80 percent of SSI money the kids receive, depending on their age.
* DCFS responds…
Federal mandate
Federal guidelines are clear, SSI benefits are required to be used to offset the costs of the care of the youth, no matter what setting the youth is in, including a foster or residential setting. In other words, the OPG is critiquing DCFS for action the Department took in 2019 that the department was federally mandated to take.
Overall response
I cannot stress enough that the health and welfare of our children is our primary concern, and we are always seeking the most appropriate placement. In some cases, it may take the agency time to find the appropriate placement for a child, and we are working diligently (often around the clock) to ensure the optimal care, transition services, and other necessary resources and requirements when that child, who often has complex issues and high acuity, is ready to exit the hospital.
The allegations in the complaint we would like comment on:
• Is it true: “DCFS left her locked up in the psychiatric ward unnecessarily for about one month [beyond medical necessity].”? If so, why?
No. After a youth’s hospitalization, DCFS attempts to return them to their prior placement, if it remains clinically appropriate. In this case, during the hospital stay, M.M.’s clinical designation changed, and she therefore required a more specialized placement. DCFS was informed of this change on the day she no longer required 24/7 psychiatric services at the hospital and immediately began working to identify a suitable placement. This work was completed as soon as possible, and the youth was moved to a specialized foster care with her sister.
• Is it true: “DCFS’s inaction caused [her] to remain locked in the hospital…unable to see her family, attend school, or play outside.” If so, why?
No. DCFS worked diligently to find this youth appropriate placement and did so as soon as possible.
• Is it true “DCFS’s failure also caused Hartgrove [hospital] to bill DCFS for that portion of [her] hospital stay that was medically unnecessary and not covered by Medicaid.”
DCFS complied with all state and federal rules around reimbursement of its cost of care for this youth.
• Is it true DCFS reimbursed itself $34,200 in April 2020 for expenses related to her inpatient hospitalization that was beyond medical necessity? If so, why?
In this case, MM required hospitalization and a new specialized placement, and costs were incurred and reimbursed as a result. There are federal and state rules that govern where funding to cover these costs comes from. DCFS follows these rules and any claims to the contrary are false and disingenuous.
• Why has DCFS refused repayment of these funds — and will the department offer up an audit of the $83,000 of other federal benefit dollars spent related to her care?
Annual accounting of this youth’s benefits is required under Illinois law, and DCFS must adhere to all federal and state rules. An accounting has previously been provided to the GAL and OPG.
Thoughts?
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Todd Maisch
Thursday, Jun 1, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Todd Maisch started working for the Illinois Chamber back in 1994, eventually rising up the ranks to take over as President/CEO in 2014. I’ve known him and his wife Kim for what seems like forever. My heart goes out to his family. He was just 57 years old.
From the ILGOP…
“Todd Maisch was a champion for the business community in Illinois and will be deeply missed. He devoted his career working to building up small businesses, enact sound policy that energized local economies, and reduce the undue burdens that Illinois businesses and employers face. Our prayers are with his family during this difficult time” said Illinois Republican Party Chairman Don Tracy.
This post will be updated.
…Adding… House Republican Leader Tony McCombie…
Todd Maisch was a fierce advocate for Chambers and job creators around Illinois, as well as a devoted friend to me and our caucus. On behalf of the Illinois House Republicans, we extend our deepest condolences to Kim, their two boys and the many he has touched over his many years of service and friendship. He will be missed!
* Comptroller Susana Mendoza…
“I am so heartbroken to hear the news about Illinois Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Todd Maisch passing away at 57. His departure leaves such a void in Illinois. He worked so hard to find bipartisan approaches to grow Illinois businesses. He understood we are all in this together. I treasure the time I spent with him, listening to him, speaking to his board. Democrats and Republicans around the state should all take a moment to honor Todd Maisch today for his advocacy for Illinois businesses. Our condolences go out to his wife and sons. May he rest in God’s peace and eternal glory.”
* Senate President Don Harmon…
“Todd Maisch was a statehouse fixture and synonymous with the Illinois Chamber of Commerce. A fierce defender of and astute negotiator for the business community, Todd was also a genuinely likable person who could find the path forward among adversaries. He departs this world far too soon. My sympathies and thoughts go out to his family and friends.”
* House Speaker Chris Welch…
“I am deeply saddened to hear about the passing of Illinois Chamber of Commerce President, Todd Maisch.
“Todd was a fierce champion for the business community and an integral part of major policy wins for our economy, namely the Blue Collar Jobs Act and the historic Rebuild Illinois capital bill. Though Todd and I often found ourselves at opposite ends of policy debates, I knew he was driven by an adoration for our state and a sincere commitment to doing what he believed was right.
“I send my condolences and prayers to his family, friends, and the Illinois Chamber community. May your memories bring you comfort during this time of mourning.”
* Illinois AFL-CIO President Tim Drea and Secretary-Treasurer Pat Devaney…
“We are saddened to hear of Illinois Chamber of Commerce President and CEO’s Todd Maisch’s passing.
Todd was a veteran of the statehouse and will be greatly missed. Although we often sat across the table from each other on issues, we always worked to put our differences aside and find common ground to build a better Illinois for everyone.
Our hearts and prayers are with his family during this difficult time.”
* Sen. Linda Holmes (D-Aurora)…
“I am so sorry to hear of Todd’s passing. I have known Todd since I joined the Senate in 2007. We worked well together as we shared a passion for encouraging and empowering business development. He was a steadfast advocate for Illinois businesses of all sizes. He will be missed by many, and my thoughts are with his family.”
* Senate Republican Leader John Curran…
“The business community is losing a champion for working people throughout our state with the passing of Illinois Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Todd Maisch. Todd dedicated his career to building a stronger business climate and a stronger Illinois and he and his work will be greatly missed. My prayers are with his family.”
* Illinois Road and Transportation Builders Association…
The Illinois Road and Transportation Builders Association is saddened by the passing of Todd Maisch, and extends condolences to his friends and family. The transportation industry lost a great ally. Todd spoke clearly about the importance of transportation infrastructure to keep our economy moving. He championed investments in transportation and was key to making the Rebuild Illinois program a bipartisan win. Todd and the Illinois Chamber also worked with a diverse coalition in championing the enactment and enforcement of the Safe Roads Amendment to the Illinois Constitution to end diversions of transportation revenues once and for all. Todd expanded the traditional reach of the Chamber by working with labor and progressives on advancing economic opportunities for Illinois and its citizens. Todd Maisch made a difference. He will be missed.
* Illinois Manufacturers’ Association…
“On behalf of manufacturers across Illinois, we mourn the loss of Illinois Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Todd Maisch, who dedicated his career to strengthening the business community and bettering our state. We offer our sincerest condolences to his wife Kim and his two children, as well as the many colleagues who will carry on his memory and mission.”
* Gov. JB Pritzker…
“I am deeply saddened to learn of Todd Maisch’s passing. Throughout his career, he worked to advance proposals to grow the state’s business community, big and small. He was passionate about making Illinois a better place to live, work, and do business and he leaves behind a storied legacy of service.
MK and I send our deepest condolences to Todd’s friends and family during this difficult time. May his memory be a blessing.”
* Attorney General Kwame Raoul…
“Todd Maisch spent decades working tirelessly to bring business opportunities to every region of Illinois. I had the opportunity to work with Todd on various issues as a state legislator and as Attorney General. We may not have always agreed on policy perspectives, but Todd was always a gentleman and maintained an appropriate tenor during often-tense negotiations. His legacy will be one of service to the state of Illinois, and he will be missed.
“My heart goes out to Todd’s colleagues at the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, and my prayers are with his wife Kim and their two sons.”
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* Sun-Times…
James Crown, one of the wealthiest men in Chicago, is aiming to use his national clout in business to try to fight crime in the city. The ambitious goal? To reduce the number of killings in Chicago to fewer than 400 a year within five years.
On Thursday, Crown — whose family was ranked 34th-richest in America by Forbes in 2020, worth an estimated $10.2 billion — is announcing a crime-reduction strategy focused on getting jobs for thousands of people in the most dangerous parts of Chicago, providing millions of dollars for civilian violence-intervention programs, strengthening law enforcement agencies and investing in low-income communities.
He’s a leader of the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago, which spent six months doing research and conducting interviews with former Mayor Lori Lightfoot, former police Supt. David Brown, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart and leaders of dozens of organizations with ties to the criminal justice system.
* It wasn’t mentioned in the story, so I asked a spokesperson how much money was involved here…
They have acknowledged it will be tens of millions of dollars and thousands of jobs — but they won’t put a specific dollar figure out there until they have sat down with the violence intervention groups — analyzed state and private funding sources — looked at the schedule for scaling up — year by year — and determined the unfunded gap. So, the need will likely be smaller in year one than in year five and — as you know - public funding will also fluctuate — particularly as ARPA funds dry up.
* From the press release…
The Civic Committee has set ambitious goals that it believes the City should strive for and would put Chicago on track to be the safest big city in America:
Homicides:
• Five years: Bring the annual number of homicides below 400 from the recent high of 804 in 2021.
• Ten years: Bring the annual number of homicides below 200.
Shootings:
• Five years: Bring the annual number of shootings below 2,000 from the record high of 3,561 in 2021.
• Ten years: Bring the number of shootings below 1,000.
“We are clear-eyed about the challenges, but we also think it’s necessary to have a shared set of ambitious goals when it comes to reducing violence and saving lives,” Crown said.
To identify the areas where business can have the most impact, the Civic Committee engaged in a seven-month fact-finding process that included interviews with numerous elected officials, community organizations, academic experts, philanthropy, and law enforcement. Out of this process, the Civic Committee announced five commitments where it believes business can make the most significant contribution to address both short-term acute issues and long-term root causes of gun violence. They are:
1. Helping take community violence intervention (CVI) programs to scale
2. Hiring alumni of CVI programs with wraparound support services
3. Enhancing policing/criminal justice reforms
4. Hiring more broadly from underinvested communities
5. Investing directly in underinvested communities
“We know that thousands of jobs are needed. We know that millions of dollars and technical support are needed. We know that our South and West Side communities need investment,” said Civic Committee President Derek Douglas. “Our five commitments reflect what business can bring to the table – a table that needs to be bolstered with leaders from across all sectors to work together and hold each other accountable to get the job done. No one sector can do it alone.”
The Civic Committee highlighted the work of the Partnership for Safe and Peaceful Communities (PSPC), a consortium of 50 funders/donors, including the Crown Family Philanthropies, which helped drive home the need to take to scale Chicago’s growing network of community violence intervention programs which are on the ground saving lives. In particular, it noted PSPC’s support to expand the reach of the most effective programs, in one example, where gun violence dropped more than 40% last year.
The task force also affirmed that challenges in the law enforcement community are long-standing, with complex, deeply rooted histories. Douglas added, “We can and must support effective, constitutional policing while doing what we can to support those who put their lives on the line to make us safe. We also need to make sure our systems are set up to hold violent offenders accountable.”
Over the coming weeks, the Civic Committee will continue its efforts to reach out to partners in philanthropy, the non-profit sector, and the business community as well as Mayor Johnson, Governor Pritzker, President Preckwinkle, and other government leaders across the City, County, and State, to both hone in more precisely on the scale, scope, and timeline of the resources that are needed from the business community and to offer support for the broader “one table” effort to develop a single, comprehensive, data-driven plan that can be implemented over the next five to ten years.
To help drive this work, Douglas also announced that the Civic Committee has hired a team of public safety experts that will be led by Bob Boik, the former head of the Office of Constitutional Policing in the Chicago Police Department (CPD). Boik will serve as the Civic Committee’s Vice President for Public Safety to work with the task force to implement the five commitments. The Civic Committee has also engaged Ernest Cato III, a former top official in CPD, and former Accenture Vice President Eric Patton, as senior advisors to build partnerships and support the implementation effort.
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* Daily Herald op-ed by Rep. Martin McLaughlin (R-Barrington)…
Illinois may be located in the Midwest, but it is home to a surprising and alarming number of deserts. At least that is what the Democrats like to tell us.
Healthcare deserts. Housing deserts. Education deserts. Food deserts. Hospital deserts. Infrastructure deserts. Pharmacy deserts. Transportation deserts. For every problem facing our state, there is an accompanying “desert” associated with it.
And right on queue, there is a measure (SB 850) being considered in the legislature to allow the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to create a Grocery Initiative and to study food deserts in Illinois and provide money to underserved areas. In other words, more government spending
The so-called remedy to these “deserts” is not the cure but is instead the underlying problem. Democrats have had total control of the state for a long time, and at no point has the thought occurred to them that just maybe the aggravating factors contributing to all of these “deserts” is the policies they have implemented. The left loves to talk about systemic problems and yet they ignore the systemic problems their policies have created.
Illinois has “deserts” because there is a climate crisis in our state. No, not global warming. A business climate crisis.
Let’s be very clear right up front: There is no doubt that our business climate is subpar, to put it mildly. Just look at the huge difficulties the governor has had while trying to lure an electric vehicle manufacturer here. It’s embarrassing.
But these problems aren’t confined to Illinois. They are all national issues.
* Let’s start with healthcare. ArcGIS…
Hospital Deserts in America
The National Rural Health Association reports that 77% of rural counties are considered “Primary Care Health Professional Shortage Areas”
Wikipedia…
A team of researchers found that in Los Angeles 89 percent of Black-majority census tracts were situated in trauma deserts; in Chicago, 73 percent; in New York City 14 percent. In Los Angeles County, South Los Angeles with one-million residents and the highest mortality rate in the county, also has the highest rates of disease and premature deaths from preventable conditions: “coronary heart disease, homicide, diabetes, lung cancer, and motor vehicle crashes.”
Washington Post…
In Texas alone, 159 of the state’s 254 counties have no general surgeons, 121 counties have no medical specialists, and 35 counties have no doctors at all. Thirty more counties are each forced to rely on just a single doctor, like Garner, a family physician by training who by necessity has become so much else: medical director of Culberson County.
* Housing deserts. USA Today…
Among Latinos, 42%, or roughly 21.2 million, lived in a census tract that lacked affordable housing in 2019. Nearly 9 in 10 of the Latino residents in such communities lived in five states: California, Florida, New Jersey, New York and Texas.
And…
Rental deserts make up about 31 percent of all neighborhoods nationally. This amounts to more than 22,000 census tracts where less than 20 percent of the stock is available to renters. Among these, nearly 7,000 are extreme rental deserts where just 10 percent of the stock or less is renter-occupied or vacant for rent. At the other end of the spectrum, high-rental neighborhoods make up just 5 percent of all tracts.
Rental deserts are disproportionately located in the suburbs where restrictive land use regulations and not-in-my-backyard (NIMBY) politics can be common. In fact, suburban neighborhoods in metropolitan areas make up 54 percent of all tracts but account for 68 percent of rental deserts
* Education deserts…
An education desert is defined as a local area where there are either zero or only one public broad-access colleges nearby. […]
Of the nation’s 709 commuting zones, 392 are classified as education deserts, and these areas are home to approximately 35 million people (about 10% of the US population). These communities are spread across the country, with many concentrated in rural areas of low population density
* Food deserts. United States Department of Agriculture …
The Conversation…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that 54.4 million Americans live in low-income areas with poor access to healthy food. For city residents, this means they are more than half a mile from the nearest supermarket.
WUWF…
Northwest Florida is home to 24 food deserts
According to the USDA’s most recent food access research report, 12.8% of Americans — more than 39 million people — live in food deserts. A food desert can be defined as a geographic area where residents may have low income and low access to healthy foods.
* Pharmacy deserts. The Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics at the University of Southern California…
Black and Latino neighborhoods in the 30 most populous U.S. cities had fewer pharmacies than white or diverse neighborhoods between 2007-2015, USC research shows, suggesting that ‘pharmacy deserts’ — like so-called food deserts — may be an overlooked contributor to persistent racial and ethnic health disparities.
* Infrastructure deserts. NBC DFW…
A new study from Southern Methodist University Engineering experts found 62 infrastructure deserts in the City of Dallas.
Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor Barbara Minsker led the research project using public data and aerial maps.
“An infrastructure desert is a low-income area that has very highly deficient infrastructure compared to other areas of the city,” Minsker said.
* Transportation deserts. Smithsonian Magazine…
Using GIS-based mapping technology, we recently assessed 52 U.S. cities, from large metropolises like New York City and Los Angeles to smaller cities such as Wichita. We systematically analyzed transportation and demand at the block group level – essentially, by neighborhoods. Then we classified block groups as “transit deserts,” with inadequate transportation services compared to demand; “transit oases,” with more transportation services than demand; and areas where transit supply meets demand. […]
Transportation deserts were present to varying degrees in all 52 cities in our study. In transit desert block groups, on average, about 43 percent of residents were transit dependent. But surprisingly, even in block groups that have enough transit service to meet demand, 38 percent of the population was transit dependent.
There are more examples and stats out there, but you get the gist.
* Meanwhile…
Governor JB Pritzker, Manner Polymers, and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) today joined local leaders and partners to announce Manner Polymers’ new manufacturing facility in Mount Vernon. Known as an industry manufacturing leader in polymer compounds, Manner Polymers’ new state-of-the-art Illinois facility will manufacture a wide array of PVC compounds, including automotive PVC compounds for use in electric vehicles (EVs) and components for solar panels.
The facility will be powered by a 15-acre solar field located on site. Bolstered by a Reimagining Energy and Vehicles in Illinois (REV Illinois) incentive package, Manner Polymers plans to invest $54 million and create more than 60 jobs for the Southern Illinois region.
That’s good news, but when the governor goes out of his way to enthusiastically tout the creation of only 60 jobs, there’s a problem.
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Bills that didn’t make the cut
Thursday, Jun 1, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* Capitol News Illinois…
A proposed cannabis reform bill won’t get further consideration until at least the General Assembly’s fall veto session after stakeholders failed to come to an agreement during the spring session’s final stretch.
Rep. La Shawn Ford, a Chicago Democrat and the bill’s sponsor, told Capitol News Illinois last week that Senate Bill 1559 didn’t pass in part due to disagreements around delta-8 THC, a synthetic psychoactive substance typically manufactured from hemp-derived CBD. […]
But advocates for the cannabis industry are pushing for a full ban. Ford said he refused to rewrite the bill to include a ban “without any serious dialogue from the public and from the state regulators.”
Delta-8, found in small traces of hemp and cannabis plants, is an easily accessible substance that can be purchased in licensed dispensaries but also in convenience stores that otherwise are prohibited from selling cannabis. Unlike the more well-known form of THC, delta-8 is often derived from CBD and causes a much milder high. But concerns over the substance’s safety have arisen across the country because it remains unregulated, and consumers of delta-8 have gotten sick after consumption. […]
The measure as drafted would address multiple areas of the state’s burgeoning cannabis industry, including reforms for craft growers, dispensary operations and licensing procedures. The stalled bill did not include any language on delta-8.
Among other things, the bill would have increased canopy space for craft growers from 5,000 square feet to 14,000 square feet. That measure, Ford said, could help those businesses grow to be more competitive in the industry.
* Crain’s…
Hopes for wide-ranging legislation that would fix a bunch of nagging issues in the marijuana industry fizzled at the last minute.
Instead, the General Assembly made just a few changes.
• Social-equity applicants who won licenses for new retail shops got another year to find locations for their stores. They were at risk of losing those licenses starting in July if they hadn’t come up with locations.
• The state also will have another $40 million to lend to new license holders to help them get started in a business where capital has dried up quickly.
• Marijuana companies will be able to deduct typical business expenses from their state income taxes, something they can’t do on federal taxes because cannabis is illegal under federal law. Tax issues are a huge burden for an industry that’s struggling to become profitable.
But some other big changes that were expected as part of a broader weed bill that had been under discussion for months went up in smoke at the very end of the session.
Among them:
• A provision that would have helped so-called craft marijuana growers to have 14,000 feet of grow space from the outset, rather than 5,000 square feet.
• Drive-through and curbside service at dispensaries.
• The ability for retail license winners to raise money from investors, albeit with restrictions, to get their stores off the ground.
* ACS CAN…
“The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) is disappointed that the legislature didn’t pass legislation this general assembly that would have created paid medical and family leave, which would have helped reduce the cancer burden on Illinoisans.
“Cancer treatment is time-consuming–often requiring time off from work for doctor’s visits, surgery and recovery, chemotherapy and radiation. The flexibility to balance cancer treatment and employment is essential.
“A comprehensive paid medical and family leave bill that provides family leave insurance benefits to eligible employees in Illinois would help reduce the burden of cancer in our state. The legislation would have allowed those impacted by cancer to take time off work to attend to their own or a loved one’s care without losing their job or income.
“ACS CAN looks forward to hopefully working with the General Assembly during the veto session this fall to pass this important legislation and seeing Gov. Pritzker sign it into law.”
* The Telegraph…
The senators also discussed utility bills. [Sen. Erica Harriss, R-Glen Carbon] said some people in her district have seen bills go up by 90%. She co-sponsored a bill that would have allocated money in the budget to help people pay those bills, but the bill did not pass and the money was not released.
“We’re seeing a massive increase in bills and a decrease in the reliability of the energy grid,” said Plummer whose comment was met by laughter. Minutes before Tuesday night’s meeting, a power failure struck the Edwardsville Gun Club where it was held. Power was restored at 7:27 p.m., about an hour into the event.
* WAND…
An Illinois House Democrat has been trying to phase out the sub-minimum wages for workers with developmental and intellectual disabilities since 2019. State representatives had the opportunity to pass a bill tackling this issue Friday, but the Dignity in Pay Act failed to gain enough support after an intense debate.
Disabled workers have been paid much less than the state’s minimum wage for many years, and some lawmakers stress it is past time to eliminate the sub-minimum wage.
Rep. Theresa Mah (D-Chicago) said Friday that the state should empower people with disabilities to maximize their employment and self-sufficiency. Mah and many other lawmakers believe it is wrong that some people are paid as low as 50 cents per hour and make only $100 per month. […]
The Dignity in Pay Act could create a multi-year plan to eliminate the use of 14 C certificates on July 1, 2027. The Illinois Employment and Economic Opportunity for Persons with Disabilities Task Force would be responsible for recommending future state policies, benchmarks, and funding levels to meet this goal. […]
“A lot of businesses don’t want somebody that only has an attention span of two to four hours that can work,” said Rep. Charlie Meier (R-Okawville). “They want somebody that’s able to work eight hours. So, you now have a person who you made unemployed and they don’t have that check.”
* Scott Holland…
Speaking of roads, consider House Bill 2910, which advanced out of committee (Transportation: Regulations, Roads & Bridges) on a 16-0 vote before failing 6-97-1 on March 23 in the full chamber. State Rep. Jawaharial Williams, D-Chicago, filed the bill in February hoping to amend the Illinois Vehicle Code to make it illegal to hold an animal while driving. The penalty would be a $50 fine.
Two Democratic suburban lawmakers signed on as co-sponsors: state Reps. Joyce Mason, Gurnee, and Suzanne Ness, Crystal Lake, and although the measure failed, the logic is sound: there are several distracted driving laws on the books and none explicitly mentions pets. The debate on cellphone use behind the wheel is settled, statutorily, but no one has explained why skipping to the next song on your playlist is inherently more dangerous than the Pomeranian between you and the steering wheel (to say nothing of smoking, eating, applying makeup or trying to keep the baby in the backseat from screaming). […]
Then there’s House Bill 1110, another Vehicle Code amendment. Also introduced by a Chicago Democrat, state Rep. Kam Buckner, this one has more sponsors, including House Minority Leader Tony McCombie, R-Savanna. The law would define “digitized driver’s license” and allow the presentation of such to law enforcement. It also caps the fee for any app required to display such a license at $6. The plan has been in the rules committee since March 27.
I access vehicle insurance cards through the carrier’s app and make sure my wife and oldest son have current copies on their phones. I probably wouldn’t pay $6 for a state app because I carry a wallet, but the teen drivers in my house would prefer fewer things in their pockets to potentially lose. There are extended questions, such as whether the digital license would work for proof of age or residency, but this is an idea whose time seemingly will come.
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Why is this allowed to happen in plain sight?
Thursday, Jun 1, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Illinois Answers Project…
[Tiffany Henyard] wears two hats in local government. As the Dolton mayor, she takes home more than $46,000 in base pay and as the supervisor of Thornton Township, she makes more than $200,000 a year, records show.
An Illinois Answers Project and FOX 32 investigation has found that while in office, Henyard has:
• Funnelled thousands of dollars in taxpayer money to a private foundation that bears her name. She says the organization helps people with cancer. The officers of the foundation are people who work for the township or the village.
• Spent thousands of taxpayer dollars for a group bicycle ride to Springfield in support of a breast cancer bill, Henyard said in videos taken during the trip. But the bill was never formally filed and state lawmakers weren’t in session.
• Spent thousands of taxpayers dollars for not one but two ice rinks. Elected officials say they did not authorize either expenditure.
In a September 2022 meeting, Henyard and the township board voted to give $10,000 to her foundation, which claims to help people with cancer. Records show the foundation’s paperwork was filed with the state the same day that the township payment was approved.
Documents show the foundation’s officials are all people who work for the village or township.
Dolton Village Manager Keith Freeman, who is also her paid senior advisor at the township, filed the paperwork for the foundation. Village of Dolton Housing Director William Moore and her executive assistant in Dolton, Carmen Carlisle, sit on the board. Thornton Township employees Cheryl Schranz, Pamela Airhart and Kamal Woods, are also nonprofit board members. […]
Last fall, under Henyard’s direction but without board approval, the Village of Dolton hired Minnesota-based KwikRink Synthetic Ice to build an artificial ice rink for $115,000, which included a $10,000 down payment.
But after the board found out and refused to pay the bill, leaving KwikRink with an ice rink collecting dust in a Minnesota warehouse pending payment, the village hired another company at her direction to supply the materials for a second rink ahead of a grand opening which came days before an election that would determine the fate of her control of the board. […]
According to township records obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, Henyard has received $316,000 in salaries and other payments since being appointed to the board in 2022. Those records show that she also received exorbitant reimbursement checks, though a township Freedom of Information officer never responded to requests for further clarification on those records. The Village of Dolton declined to provide records.
There’s a whole lot more, so go read the rest.
* Meanwhile, here’s Ted Slowik at the Daily Southtown…
Lawmakers have approved a state budget that proposes to send more than $9 million in state funds to Thornton Township and $6.8 million to the village of Dolton to cover operational costs and capital improvements.
I hope the state keeps close track of taxpayer dollars soon to be controlled by Tiffany Henyard, embattled supervisor of Thornton Township and mayor of Dolton. The money seems doomed to disappear into a black hole of zero accountability.
The majority of trustees on the Dolton Village Board said it’s been months since they’ve seen credit card statements, a warrants list of money owed to vendors and other financial documents. Henyard canceled Village Board meetings in March, April and May.
Henyard is spending $50,000 a month on a village credit card, Dolton trustees said. Trustees said they don’t know where the money is going. They’ve sued in an effort to promote transparency and see documents that would enable them to fulfill their oaths as stewards of village funds, but the court fight seems to have become an expensive legal slog.
Astute observers believe Henyard is commingling township and village funds and paying for gasoline for residents, continually throwing catered parties and spending big bucks on hair, makeup, photography and graphic design for promotions like billboards that misspelled Thornton Township.
Henyard seems to be wasting public funds in plain sight on frivolous endeavors. A village trustee publicly stated his belief that Henyard inherited a budget surplus when she became mayor in 2021 and now Dolton has a $5 million deficit.
Again, there’s more. Click here.
* Related Slowik columns…
* Election prompts surreal scene in Dolton as mayor, trustees battle over legal bills: A spectacle that unfolded at a Dolton Village Board meeting Monday night seemed surreal. A DJ blared loud music as Henyard entered dressed as Nino Brown, a drug kingpin character portrayed by Wesley Snipes in the 1991 film, “New Jack City.” Henyard dressed in black leather and carried a stuffed dog to mimic a scene in which the head of a criminal enterprise intimidates, torments and physically assaults an underling.
* Dolton trustees seek answers from Tiffany Henyard as mayor shrouds spending in secrecy: “The amount of money being spent without board approval, without checks and balances, is unacceptable,” Trustee Edward Steave said Monday night during a special board meeting at a Dolton Park District facility. … Trustees adopted an ordinance in February to cap credit card spending at $20,000 per month, but Henyard is ignoring the policy, House said. Henyard and trustees have battled over paying law firms and other vendors. … The board met at a Park District facility because last year when the board tried to meet at Village Hall on different occasions trustees were locked out, the power was shut off and the Fire Department was called, Steave said.
* Thornton Township Supervisor Tiffany Henyard blames Zuccarelli, state senator for $5 million deficit: Henyard also blamed the deficit on state Sen. Napoleon Harris, D-Harvey. Voters last summer elected Harris Democratic committeeperson for Thornton Township, a position Zuccarelli previously held. “Napoleon, your senator, was supposed to sign off on a $5 million amount to give to the township” Henyard said. “He did not give the township the $5 million, so that put the township in a deficit of $5 million, because they did a build out here at the township without even having the money in the bank.” I’ve previously criticized Henyard for mischaracterizing grant funds as “free money.” Her remarks about Harris seemed to indicate the senator might have unsuccessfully lobbied for a state grant that might have funded the Township Hall renovation. “I can assure everyone that Sen. Harris has never discussed funding or any grants with Supervisor Henyard and any claims suggesting otherwise are baseless,” Nakita McGraw, a representative for Harris, told me Wednesday.
* Thornton Township firings and job postings driven by political revenge and not budget concerns, critics say: Amid the firings, the township posted on its website that it was seeking applicants for marketing manager, staff photographer, executive assistant, social media team, public relations manager, municipal communications coordinator, senior communications coordinator, youth communications coordinator, special events manager, township editor and event planner. None of the positions included information about job descriptions or minimal requirements, just links to a generic employment application.
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Open thread
Thursday, Jun 1, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* What’s goin’ on? Keep it Illinois-centric please!…
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Isabel’s morning briefing
Thursday, Jun 1, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* Here you go…
* Capitol News Illinois | Pritzker touts new budget’s higher education spending: “With this new budget, we’re making it possible for nearly every student from a low-, moderate- or middle-income family to go to community college tuition free,” Pritzker said at the University of Illinois Springfield. “Getting a college or university degree shouldn’t strap you in debt for the rest of your life.”
* Tribune | Gov. J.B. Pritzker touts higher education funding to kick off tour promoting state budget: Pritzker has said the final budget hewed closely to the proposal he introduced in February, when he focused on education. On Wednesday, he touted investments that include about $2.8 billion for university and community college infrastructure. He said over $686 million in capital funding was going to the University of Illinois system, including to UIS
* WTTW | Illinois House Speaker Emanuel ‘Chris’ Welch on Budget, Bipartisanship and Immigration: Welch pointed out that before he was speaker, in 2017 he was a lead co-sponsor of the Trust Act, which “made Illinois the most welcoming state in the country” by limiting Illinois law enforcement agencies from cooperating with federal immigration agents if federal officials don’t have a warrant — a restriction intended to make undocumented immigrants feel comfortable cooperating with police without fear of deportation. “We are a welcoming state, Chicago’s a welcoming city,” Welch said. “And you can’t just talk the talk, you have to walk the walk. And you know, we believe in helping people.”
* Daily Herald | Arlington Park’s property tax bill reduced by more than half: After an agreement between Churchill Downs Inc., the Cook County Board of Review and several suburban school districts, the property tax bill for Arlington Park this year was reduced to $7.8 million. That’s less than half the initial $16.1 million tax bill estimated when the property was reassessed by Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi’s office last year.
* Shaw Local | GOP House Minority Leader McCombie, State Rep. Keicher talk spring legislative session at Genoa town hall: Keicher alleged state Democrats didn’t go through the proper steps for legislative measures, and said he was astounded how often lawmakers on the other side of the aisle said they hadn’t heard anything from constituents about various bills, when he asked them.
* Scott Holland | Geography needn’t be a barrier to access state court system: The drive from the White County Courthouse in Carmi to its equivalent in Sangamon County is almost 200 miles, at least a three-hour trek in good traffic.
* Daily Herald | Katz Muhl to challenge Carroll for 57th District state representative: Katz Muhl, a Northbrook attorney, could challenge four-term Rep. Jonathan Carroll, also of Northbrook, in the March 19, 2024 primary. The general election will be held Nov. 5, 2024.
* Lottery Daily | Illinois Senate swaps responsible betting messages with lottery provisions: The sports betting bill was passed by the state Senate with a unanimous 54-0 vote, but has now been gutted in the Illinois House of Representatives to allow for the issuance of several new lottery scratch card games.
* Jim Dey | State audit of business aid program reveals big problems: A recent report by the Illinois Auditor General’s office shows that state officials, primarily those in the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, botched the dispensing of funds in a $585 million Business Interruption Grant (BIG) program.
* Patch | Illinois Psychiatrists Call for Better Mental Health Care, Access: Our mental health care system is in crisis, with access to equal, quality, affordable care a challenge nearly everywhere. We propose a true team approach to the problem. We offer here a blueprint of policy ideas we believe will help address the challenge comprehensively and effectively. Our first pillar calls for increasing equitable access. Many people in rural, minority, and low-income communities have some of the greatest needs, yet they have the greatest challenges to see those needs met.
* Crain’s | Johnson and the city’s top cop respond to Memorial Day weekend violence: Johnson’s comments came at a traditional post-City Council press conference where the new mayor stood alongside the city’s police chief to say the police department will make “adjustments” to officer deployments throughout the summer to respond to shootings while the city continues to work with community groups in an effort to prevent violence. “It will take all of us, every city department, agency, police, business, philanthropy, community partners, all the people of Chicago to deliver real, safe communities,”he said.
* Sun-Times | Dale Earnhardt Jr. tests NASCAR Chicago Street Race track, assesses ‘challenges’ for drivers: The two-time Daytona 500 champion stopped by Chicago as other drivers offered ride-alongs on the track in an SUV. Earnhardt rated each bump, crest and imperfection.
* Block Club | Just In Time For Patio Season, City Council Backs COVID-Era Rules Making Outdoor Dining Easier: Groups of three or more restaurants on the same block would also be able to apply for full street closures for their outdoor patios.
* Sun-Times | Former Mayor Lori Lightfoot to teach at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health: Eric Andersen, the director, Senior Leadership Fellows Program and Studio Programming at the school, said in an interview, “we reached out” to Lightfoot because “I think as mayor and as a leader she faced many pressing public health issues, most notable navigating the pandemic.
* Sun-Times | Alice Palmer, state senator who mentored Barack Obama, dies at 83: In 1995, Mrs. Palmer announced she would give up her seat in Springfield and run in a special election to succeed convicted U.S. Rep. Mel Reynolds in Congress. She endorsed Obama as her chosen successor in the state Senate, but after she lost the congressional race to Jesse Jackson Jr., Mrs. Palmer decided to seek reelection to the state Senate.
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Live coverage
Thursday, Jun 1, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
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Afternoon Roundup
Wednesday, May 31, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* Governor Pritzker kicked off his statewide tour detailing the budget. State Journal-Register…
Gov. JB Pritzker at the University of Illinois-Springfield Student Union touted the budget, now awaiting his signature, as including several line items for construction projects on campus and increases investment into the Monetary Award Program by $100 million. Fiscal year 2024, starting in July, will have $701 million in total investment into program — a 75% increase since the beginning of the Pritzker administration. […]
“With this new budget we’re making it possible for nearly every student from a low, moderate or middle-income family to go to community college tuition free,” Pritzker said, kicking off a statewide tour detailing the budget. “Getting a college or university degree shouldn’t strap you in debt for the rest of your life.”
Rep. Mike Coffey, R-Springfield, was also in attendance and expressed support for several appropriations and reappropriations heading towards UIS.
He and all other Republicans in both chambers, however, voted against the budget. Coffey’s reasons for his ‘no’ vote were namely due to another increase to state legislator pay and feeling left-out on budget negotiations with the super-majority party.
* An update of an earlier post…
* Last day folks…
TODAY, May 31st is the deadline to apply for the vacancy in the 1st District of the Cook County Board of Commissioners created by the resignation of Mayor Brandon Johnson. Democratic Oak Park Township Committeeman Don Harmon released details on this process May 17th.
All registered voters residing in the district are eligible to submit an application via email at firstdistrictvacancy@gmail.com.
As a reminder, Mayor Johnson announced his resignation from the Cook County Board on May 13th, 2023 thus creating a vacancy to be filled by the elected Committee members of the Cook County Townships and Chicago Wards that comprise the 1st District. As the Committeeman with the highest number of “weighted votes,” Harmon will serve as the Chair of the proceedings.
“We welcome all applicants from the 1st District to serve the people of Cook County,” said Chair Don Harmon. “Anyone interested in applying to our committee for the appointment should submit a resume and a short cover letter signifying their interest and qualifications before the end of today,” he concluded. […]
After the application period is closed, the election committee may narrow the field of applicants and set a date and time for in-person interviews. Upon completion of interviews and deliberation, the committee will vote on the appointment of the new commissioner. A vote of the majority of the weighted votes will determine the appointee.
* Crain’s on that other budget…
It looks like Illinois congressmen will be all over the map on the big debt extension bill, with a House vote now set for this afternoon.
Absolutely no one on either side of the aisle is saying they like the pact between President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Perhaps that signals it’s a good deal. Whether or not you agree, passage will depend on how many votes the measure gets from the political center, with hard-right conservatives and way-left progressives peeling off. […]
Among Illinois reps who have so far expressed an opinion in an an interview, statement or online — some are still keeping mum — there is one sure “no” vote. That’s from downstate conservative Mary Miller. […]
“I have serious concerns,” particularly about but not limited to food stamps and work requirements, Ramirez said in a statement. Beyond that, reclaiming unspent COVID relief money could have a “tremendous” impact on Illinois, and changes in environmental permitting will potentially worsen pollution. Ramirez said she’ll decide after reviewing the fine print of the deal.
* Block Club Chicago…
After four years of barricades, ID checks and protests, Lori Lightfoot’s neighbors have their block back.
Lightfoot’s security detail, which reportedly totaled more than 70 officers, was slashed earlier this month after Brandon Johnson was sworn in as mayor, marking the end of what some neighbors called “Fort Lori.”
The Chicago Police Department conducted a “needs assessment” of Lightfoot’s detail and “adjusted resources to meet current demands,” police spokesman Don Terry said. Terry didn’t answer further questions, including how many officers were pulled. […]
Liz said she and other neighbors were so ecstatic to be rid of the large security detail — and the restrictions that came along with it — that they had a celebratory champagne toast when the block cleared out.
* Which brings me to this Sun-Times story. No word if Mayor Johnson’s security detail were involved but his name was in the headline…
A neighbor of Mayor Brandon Johnson is accused of beating and stabbing a woman so many times over the weekend that a worker for the Cook County medical examiner’s office remarked he had “never seen so many injuries on someone’s body,” prosecutors said in court Tuesday.
Arnel Smith, 64, was charged with first-degree murder and concealment of a homicide after the woman’s body was found early Saturday in an alley behind Smith’s home in the 5700 block of West Superior Street.
The 41-year-old woman, whose name hasn’t been released, was beaten with a baseball bat and stabbed with shards of broken pottery, Assistant State’s Attorney Anne McCord Rodgers said.
Smithknew the woman before crossing paths with her Friday night at a Citgo gas station near Chicago and Hamlin avenues, Rodgers said. The two went back to Smith’s home where they used drugs, she said.
* Here’s the roundup…
* WBEZ | Chicago City Council approves $51 million in aid for migrants after racially-heated debate: Dueling boos and cheers rang out each time members of the public spoke in support of the funding Wednesday. The meeting paused shortly as shouts from the public were so loud and boisterous, they overtook the proceedings that Mayor Brandon Johnson struggled to reel in. The debate was at times racially-charged as alderpersons and residents spoke out about where the city dedicates resources.
* Triibe | Support for asylum seekers builds despite pushback: The shuttered Wadsworth Elementary School in Woodlawn has been used as a shelter for asylum seekers since the beginning of February. As of April 25, the total number of people sheltered at Wadsworth was 496, with 428 of them being males and sixty-eight being females. This solution was not without pushback from Alds. Jeanette Taylor (20th), Michelle Harris (8th), nor many of their constituents. Taylor said she was never informed by the Lightfoot administration that it would be setting up an encampment there. Taylor said she asked for a conversation back in October, shortly after buses full of asylum seekers sent from Texas sent by Gov. Greg Abbott began arriving in Chicago, but she never received one.
* American Independent | The dark money funding conservative anti-trans groups: The donors identified by the American Independent Foundation as major supporters of the anti-trans groups profiled in this story are among the most powerful and wealthy on the American right: Leonard Leo, the conservative judicial activist who helped former President Donald Trump pick his Supreme Court nominees and who controls a billion-dollar funding apparatus; Richard Uihlein, the GOP megadonor who has bankrolled far-right and election-denying candidates; and members of the Koch donor network of nonprofit political organizations spearheaded by the conservative billionaire Charles Koch and his late brother, David.
* WICS | Summer months see more crime and assault in central Illinois: “With the hot weather, people tend to drink more. We have a lot of factors that go into play here where the crime rates are going to rise across the board. Especially in assaults where you have more interaction with people,” said Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell. In 2021 and 2022, Decatur saw an average of 59 aggravated assault cases per month for nine months of the year.
* Axios | Why TikTok wants its new data privacy trial held in Illinois: The company has requested that the new lawsuits, which accuse TikTok of accessing user data through third-party websites on the app’s browser, be heard in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. It’s the same courtroom where a judge approved a $92 million class-action settlement that sent $167 checks to users in 2022. […] “TikTok is now coming back to the Northern District to ask if these new claims are covered by the $92 million settlement.”
* WIFR | Rockford mayor unfazed by protestors during 6th State of the City Address: Protestors delayed the start of the speech by five minutes but the mayor seemed unfazed, touting what he calls improvements made to better the Forest City. […] He cited other accomplishments during his tenure including making water safe by replacing lead pipes, bringing more businesses to the area and implementing more sidewalks and streetlights into neighborhoods.
* Tribune | Cook County program touted as one of the ‘top eviction prevention innovations’ has drawn praise, pushback: But the innovation has brought additional challenges. Before the pandemic, it could take just a few weeks for a tenant to be evicted. Now it takes at least a couple of months. The slowdown, tenants’ attorneys argue, is necessary to ensure that everyone, including landlords, gets the help that they need. But the extra time leads to financial distress for property owners, argue landlords’ attorneys.
* WBEZ | Outdoor dining program could become permanent: The City Council’s License Committee unanimously advanced Mayor Brandon Johnson’s plan to make permanent an al fresco dining program that helped many restaurants and bars survive during the pandemic.
* Jen walling | What Illinois can do since Supreme Court gutted federal protection of wetlands, waterways: You may not immediately see the impacts, but they will soon be felt by all of us. Stormwater displaced by the loss of wetlands that would normally absorb excess water must go somewhere. Certainly, some will find a way into our streets, homes, and businesses. Wetlands are an invaluable natural resource. They reduce flooding, filter out pollutants from water, provide habitat for a host of endangered species, and help reduce climate-warming carbon in our atmosphere. In Illinois, more than 85% of our wetlands have already been lost to development, according to the Illinois State Water Plan. Remaining wetlands are already suffering decreased biodiversity and an influx of difficult-to-control invasive species.
* Tribune | Former Chicago cop charged with pinning Park Ridge teen to the ground last summer to stand trial Monday: Almost a year after he was charged for wrestling a young Park Ridge teen face down on a sidewalk in Park Ridge’s Uptown area, former Chicago Police Department Sergeant Michael Vitellaro will stand trial June 5, according to court records.
* Crain’s | Johnson looks for more legislative wins at special City Council meeting: Last week, at Johnson’s first full City Council meeting, Ald. Ray Lopez, 15th, Ald. Anthony Beale, 9th, and Ald. Anthony Napolitano, 41st, used a parliamentary maneuver to block a vote on the $51 million, which is being taken from a 2021 revenue surplus and meant to fund the city’s response through June. In response, Johnson and his allies called a special meeting for Wednesday to hold the vote. The ordinance is expected to easily be approved.
* AP | Earth is ‘really quite sick now’ and in danger zone in nearly all ecological ways, study says: The study by the international scientist group Earth Commission published in Wednesday’s journal Nature looks at climate, air pollution, phosphorus and nitrogen contamination of water from fertilizer overuse, groundwater supplies, fresh surface water, the unbuilt natural environment and the overall natural and human-built environment. Only air pollution wasn’t quite at the danger point globally.
* Sun-Times | 11 people wounded over 3 hours in Chicago, mostly in neighborhoods that have been more violent this year: No arrests were reported in any of the attacks. Homicides and shootings across the city are down from last year, with homicides by 6% and shootings by 5%, according to police data, But most of Tuesday night’s shootings were in districts that have seen a rise in homicides or shootings or both.
* ABC Chicago | Cook County minimum wage set for increase on July 1: The minimum wage will go up to $13.70 an hour for non-tipped workers and $8 an hour for workers who earn tips. The minimum wage increases each year according to a formula set by a county ordinance.
* WSIL | Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch Kicks off Pride Month with a Celebration for all on June 1: The event will feature performers from Chicago’s legendary Baton Show Lounge. It’s hosted by some of Illinois’ greatest advocates for LGBTQ rights including: Associate Regional Communications Director at Sierra Club, Precious Brady-Davis; 14th District State Representative Kelly Cassidy; former House Majority Leader Greg Harris; Democratic Party of Dupage County Chair Ken Mejia-Beal; Alderman Lamont Robinson of Chicago’s 4th District; and Director of Public Policy at Equality Illinois, Mike Ziri.
* WCIA | Illinois State Fair box office opens Thursday: Regular box office hours include 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday and from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. on Saturday, August 5, officials reported. Tickets are also available to purchase online.
* Crain’s | Tribune Publishing owner to pay nearly $100,000 in settlement with union: New York-based hedge fund Alden Global Capital has settled an unfair-labor-practice complaint, resulting in nearly $100,000 to be paid out to members of the Chicago Tribune Guild. Alden, which owns the paper’s parent, Tribune Publishing, will disperse individual payments to union members who were on Tribune medical insurance plans in 2022. That includes people no longer employed by the company, according to an email from the CT Guild.
* Block Club | As Lori Lightfoot’s Large Security Detail Shrinks, Her Logan Square Neighbors Say ‘It Feels Like A Normal Block Again’: Liz said she and other neighbors were so ecstatic to be rid of the large security detail — and the restrictions that came along with it — that they had a celebratory champagne toast when the block cleared out.
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* Sun-Times | Divided City Council approves $51 million in migrant crisis funding: A divided City Council agreed Wednesday to slap a $51 million Band-Aid on Chicago’s burgeoning migrant crisis after a cathartic and racially-charged debate that reduced one member to tears. The 34-to-13 vote will provide enough funding to carry Chicago only through June 30.
* Tribune | City Council approves $51 million for migrants as officials scramble for more funds, point fingers: Moore, 17th, opened the discussion by urging a “No” vote because his majority-Black ward has suffered with dilapidated field houses and seniors becoming homeless because of long public housing waitlists. He argued that during his community needs to put its oxygen “mask” on first. “The soul of Chicago is somewhat on trial today regarding this ordinance. … People keep saying there’s enough to go around,” Moore said, quoting a common theme from Johnson’s inaugural address and mayoral campaign. “I heard that over and over. So let’s pass an ordinance where we see enough.”
* WGN | Chicago City Council approves $51M aid for migrant care: The $51 million is money the city received from opioid and vapor court settlements. One alderperson said it would only last about two months.
* CBS Chicago | City Council approves $51 million in funding for migrant housing amid raucous debate: While the shouting between supporters and opponents of the ordinance prompted Chicago police officers to remove several people from the crowd inside City Hall, the debate among aldermen was more measured, though often still passionate. […] Ald. Maria Hadden (49th), who voted for the funding, said the anger on display at Wednesday’s meeting was the result of decades of disinvestment in Black neighborhoods across the city. “A conflict is being created at a weak point in this city, and it’s frustrating because this weak point wouldn’t exist if our city hadn’t spent decades not serving Black residents,” she said.
* Chicago Defender | City Council Votes to Spend $51 Million for City Asylum Seekers: A popular sentiment among people who oppose providing emergency housing to these new arrivals is what the city does for existing homeless people and struggling residents. That sentiment and more were expressed during a spirited Wednesday city council meeting with people opposed to the ordinance chanting, “No justice, no peace.”
* WBEZ | Chicago City Council approves $51 million in aid for migrants after racially-heated debate: Ald. Jeanette Taylor, 20th Ward, has been one of the most outspoken and critical council members on the city’s handling of the migrant crisis. Her ward is home to a migrant shelter in a shuttered public school, and she has repeatedly complained of a lack of coordination from the city. Still, repeating the phrase “hurt people don’t hurt people” in a floor speech Wednesday, Taylor voted to pass the funding. “If my yes vote bothers you, then so be it … because hurt people don’t hurt people,” Taylor said to shouts of “she’s a traitor” from members of the crowd.
* ABC Chicago | Chicago City Council approves $51M for migrant housing: The council also approved a permanent outdoor dining program, allowing restaurants to expand outdoors to sidewalks and even curb lanes, and in some cases entire streets, like in River North during the pandemic.
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* Chicago Tribune…
When it came time to split up the first batch of $15 billion Congress set aside last year to replace toxic lead pipes, Illinois officials had plenty of reasons to expect they would get the biggest share. […]
But when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced last month how it plans to share nearly $3 billion this year, Florida got the biggest cut. Another state surprisingly in the top 10: Texas.
Since then environmental lawyers have been quizzing EPA officials and state bureaucrats about a 2022 survey the agency relied upon to conclude Florida surpasses Illinois in the number of lead service lines, and that Texas has more than Michigan and Wisconsin combined. […]
Illinois and other states with the most lead service lines are getting substantially less federal money per line than those with far fewer toxic pipes. For instance, Alaska, with 1,454 lead lines, and South Dakota, with 4,141, will get $19,704 and $6,919 per line respectively during the coming year.
The federal money headed to Illinois amounts to $221 per lead service line, a review of EPA data shows. Michigan and Wisconsin are getting $241 and $238 a line.
* AP…
The survey released Tuesday was the first time the agency asked about lead pipes and gave the best count yet of how many are underground. Florida, with an estimated 1.16 million pipes, was a surprise to one expert. Industrial states like Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania are more typically associated with extensive lead pipe issues.
Illinois ranked second in Tuesday’s survey, with 1.04 million lead pipes, followed by Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and New York. […]
Erik Olson, a health and food expert at the environmental group Natural Resources Defense Council, said the EPA was “trying to do the right thing” by using its survey to direct lead pipe funds to states that need it most. But he called Florida’s figure “a big surprise.” Olson said the state told his group in 2021 that it doesn’t track lead service lines. The NRDC’s estimate for the state was about 200,000.
Olson said the Florida number is puzzling because lead pipes were most frequently installed in the decades before Florida’s population rapidly grew.
“We look forward to hearing an explanation,” Olson said.
* WTVO…
The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency has awarded Rockford $4 million to replace 960 lead water pipes. […]
“Lead is a toxin that can accumulate in the body and cause serious illness or even death,” said Sen. Steve Stadelman (D-Rockford). “This funding protects public water supplies and helps Rockford and other cities across the state replace these aging water pipes before IEPA deadlines kick in.”
The award is Rockford’s fifth from IEPA State Revolving Fund, which provides principal forgiveness loans that don’t have to be repaid. Rockford has received $16 million to replace lead service lines since 2019, with $4 million being the program’s maximum award amount.
Since 2017, the IEPA has provided $105 million in funding for lead service line replacement statewide.
* Lead paint is still a health hazard in Cook County. WTTW…
In suburban Cook County, officials now say as many as half a million homes have lead paint hazards that present enormous health threats for young children. One mother said her kids were poisoned several years ago — and the problems have not let up since. […]
“The most likely source of lead poisoning for children in Chicago is lead-based paint,” said Dr. Candice Robinson, medical director of the Chicago Department of Public Health. […]
The number of Chicago children with elevated lead levels has plummeted in the last 25 years. In 1996, 70% tested positive for elevated levels compared to under 2% in 2021, according to CDPH data.
But the city’s health department admits less than 50% of children are being tested regularly, a city requirement. And CDPH data finds that in many low income communities and communities of color, between 30% and 40% of all residents in older homes tested positive.
In a follow up email, a spokesperson responded, “CDPH Finds lead hazards in about 99 percent of residences built before 1978.”
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Question of the day
Wednesday, May 31, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* I received this text from Freshman Rep. Hoan Huynh (D-Chicago) a few moments ago…
I’m throwing out the ceremonial first pitch today at Wrigley Field around 12:30pm in honor of Asian American Pacific Islander Month and as the first Asian American to represent Wrigleyville in the Illinois General Assembly!
* Mayor Johnson threw out the first pitch before Sunday’s Cubs vs Cincinnati Reds game…
* The Question: What’s your favorite baseball moment?
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It’s almost a law
Wednesday, May 31, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* Rep. Stephanie Kifowit…
* Illinois State Dental Society…
The key focus of our legislative agenda this year was dental insurance reform. ISDS was victorious in passing two pieces of legislation to begin addressing dental insurance reform in Illinois.
-The legislation addressed network leasing, a bait-and-switch tactic insurance companies use to gain more revenue.
- A second piece of dental insurance reform legislation, virtual credit cards, was passed to address the issue of insurance companies requiring dentists to pay a fee to obtain payment for the services they have rendered to patients.
ISDS passed legislation related to the upcoming e-prescription requirements and legislation clarifying Illinois Dental Practice Act provisions. Additionally, we have agreed with the Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS) to implement rules to clarify when orthodontics is covered under the Medicaid program.
ISDS advocated very strongly to defeat the proposed Medicaid provider tax, which would have taxed all dentists in Illinois. We are pleased to announce that this tax did not pass this legislative session.
* AARP Illinois State Director Philippe Largent…
“AARP Illinois fought hard on issues important for its 1.7 million members and older adults in Illinois.
Below are the highlights of the major legislative wins that AARP Illinois advocated for on behalf of older adults across the state. […]
Prevention of generic Rx drug price gouging: HB 3957 prevents drug manufacturers and distributors from charging unfair prices for off-patent and generic drugs in Illinois. For price increases that are excessive and unreasonable for consumers, the Attorney General will have the authority to investigate the increases, seek documentation from drug manufacturers, and petition for remedy. If substantiated, there could be rebates to consumers, civil penalties up to $10,000 per violation and even a court order to lower the cost of the drug.
Access to affordable insulin: HB 2189 addresses the insulin affordability crisis for Illinoisans who need this life-saving drug. The bill lowers the $100 co-pay cap in state-regulated health plans to $35 to align with Medicare Part D. This action was critical as the price of insulin, a 100-year-old drug, has increased by 600% over the last 20 years which had made it unaffordable for many who depend on it to survive.
Saving for retirement: HB 3155 strengthens the Illinois Secure Choice Program operationally ensuring millions of Illinois workers will have access to employment-based retirement savings whether through this program or their employer. It gives workers the freedom to choose the private savings option that works best for them. The legislation makes the program more self-sustaining and stabilizes the fees charged to participants as their account balances increase. This program has become critical to workers of all ages across Illinois who want to save for retirement. Currently, Illinois Secure Choice has more than 122,000 participants who together have saved more than $117 million for retirement, and over 9,600 employers are registered for the program.
Predatory Lending Protections: AARP Illinois opposed a measure, HB 1519, that if passed, would have allowed lenders that offer private student loans, called Income Share Agreements, charge up to 20% in some cases of a student’s future annual income. AARP Illinois also opposed an effort by pawnbrokers to charge usurious rates up to 240% APR. Both of these measures, had they not been stopped, would have charged such high interest rates that borrowers would have been tied to for years, potentially decades, significantly threatening their financial security. […]
Rights of older drivers: Illinois is the only state that requires drivers 75 and older to take a physical driving test. AARP policy supports effective, evidence-based assessment models to identify at-risk drivers of all ages. As a part of a bill that was signed into law late last year, a task force will soon convene to examine the issue and will resolve at what age, if any, will still require a re-examination. As that law offered confusing language, AARP supported HB 2091 this spring, a bill meant to clarify that age to require a physical driving test cannot be lowered to younger than 75, only raised, in the future.
AARP Illinois now encourages Gov. Pritzker to sign those important pieces of legislation that passed into law.
* Illinois Senate Dems…
“This monumental legislation makes greater investments in our children,” said Hastings (D- Frankfort). “The cost of financing higher education can be overwhelming. The expansion of this grant program will help increase accessibility for middle class families at our state’s universities and colleges.”
House Bill 301 will make the AIM HIGH Grant Pilot Program permanent, increase transparency in the program to allow more students to take advantage of it, increase access for part-time students and make changes to the matching requirements for the public universities.
Since the 2019-2020 academic year the AIM HIGH program has provided merit-based, means-tested student financial aid to first-time, full-time undergraduate students and transfer students who are Illinois residents attending any of the 12 Illinois public four-year universities. AIM HIGH-participating universities are required to provide matching funding for institutional awards for students who meet certain eligibility requirements, as well as those established by each individual university.
The initiative adopts changes to help ensure that the AIM HIGH Grant Program targets those most in need, further amplifying its impact. […]
House Bill 301 passed the Senate and House with bipartisan support.
* News Channel 20…
Illinois may be the first in the nation to pass a bill that requires protections for child influencers, and all of this is being spearheaded by a 16-year-old from Normal, Illinois.
What started as an independent study back in August turned into a piece of legislation that has reached national audiences.
Shreya Nallamothu thinks these protections should have happened a long time ago.
“I was like legislation takes time, I’m not expecting to change the law in five months. I’m surprised it even passed out of the Senate Labor Committee,” the 16-year-old said. […]
The new legislation makes sure children who are featured in videos receive a cut of the income their family makes through a trust fund that they can have access to when they reach the age of 18.
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* Background is here if you need it. From the Iowa Supreme Court…
In this appeal, we must decide whether the district court correctly ruled that qualified would-be competitors in the electric transmission market lacked standing to challenge new legislation that blocks them from bidding against existing Iowa operators on future projects. The statute at issue, Iowa Code section 478.16 (2020), grants “incumbent” Iowa [electric utilities] a right of first refusal (ROFR) that forestalls competitive bidding. […]
We are not surprised the ROFR lacked enough votes to pass without logrolling. The provision is quintessentially crony capitalism. This rent-seeking, protectionist legislation is anticompetitive. Common sense tells us that competitive bidding will lower the cost of upgrading Iowa’s electric grid and that eliminating competition will enable the incumbent to command higher prices for both construction and maintenance. Ultimately, the ROFR will impose higher costs on Iowans. The data back this up: amicus Coalition of MISO Transmission Customers offers data collected from two recent bid-based projects that indicate competition reduces costs by fifteen percent compared to MISO’s estimates. As the Coalition summarizes, “Without competition, there are fewer checks and balances on cost estimates, and no pressures or incentives to curb project costs and prevent cost overruns.”
Both Illinois chambers approved a similar bill at the 11th hour last week that would hand Ameren the right of first refusal to build regional electricity lines. You’ll recall that this “quintessentially crony capitalism” and “protectionist” legislation was fervently backed by Rep. Chris Miller (R-No Relation) during floor debate.
* This is how Ameren pitched the bill in Missouri, its home state…
In states with right-of-first-refusal laws, these LRTP projects can begin as soon as they are approved by MISO, but that won’t be the case in Missouri unless HB 992 is passed by the General Assembly and signed into law by the governor. Without the Missouri First Transmission Act, these projects will be forced to go through a lengthy bid process that could take up to two years to complete — putting Missouri behind schedule when it comes to these important transmission projects.
The legislation did not pass.
* Capitol News Illinois…
Critics of the proposal said that it would reduce competition, leading to higher costs for construction projects and ultimately higher costs to energy consumers. But proponents said that it will streamline the billions of dollars of construction planned for the coming years while creating union jobs for Illinoisans. […]
While it needs only a signature from Gov. JB Pritzker to become law, he vowed last week to veto the bill. Pritzker spokesperson Alex Gough said the governor opposes the bill because it “puts corporate profits over consumers.”
The legislature could override Pritzker’s potential veto, but it would require three-fifths majorities in both chambers, a margin that it earned in the Senate, but not the House. […]
The bill’s house sponsor and the House Public Utilities Committee chair, Rep. Larry Walsh, D-Elwood, said that the proposal came to him from the union. In a Friday evening committee, Walsh said it would streamline the process of expanding the grid.
“If you have an entity that controls the transmission of our electric power throughout whatever region you’re in… It’s easier for them to do this type of work, interconnecting their system,” Walsh said.
* Crain’s…
Interestingly, the bill applies only to Ameren Illinois, which serves downstate Illinois, and not Commonwealth Edison. Ordinarily, the IBEW, which represents thousands of workers at both utilities, would have pushed to favor both companies.
But ComEd’s admission of an elaborate bribery scheme aimed at currying favor with former House Speaker Michael Madigan, and the recent convictions of the so-called “ComEd Four,” including former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore, on conspiracy and bribery charges, led backers to focus only on Ameren.
Where things go from here is uncertain. Pritzker left no doubt he would veto the bill. Once that happens, Welch and Harmon will have to decide whether to try to override a fellow Democrat — a rarity during Pritzker’s five years in the governor’s mansion. […]
IBEW has pushed for bills giving incumbent utilities the “right of first refusal” on new transmission in states all over the U.S. and have been successful in more than 10. Indiana passed a similar law earlier this month, while Missouri lawmakers rejected a similar proposal.
…Adding… Sun-Times editorial…
In a sneaky maneuver, the Legislature slipped through a Senate amendment that would give the downstate energy utility Ameren monopolistic control over anyone building regional power lines across its territory. Such an enormous corporate giveaway could make it harder and more expensive to decarbonize the state’s and nation’s power grid just when it is crucial to connect new renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar power installations, to customers in population centers.
The regional power lines Ameren could control possibly would include those that would connect the Chicago area to new solar and wind energy. But Ameren has an apparent conflict of interest: its parent company owns fossil fuel plants that generate electricity.
We’re not saying we know what Ameren would do, but slow-walking any new regional power lines appears as though it could be in its financial interest. And, as in all situations in which a company gains monopoly power, there is a risk of customers paying unnecessarily high prices for less service.
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* Background is here if you need it. Pensions & Investments…
The Illinois Supreme Court has agreed to hear arguments regarding the constitutionality of two new consolidated investment funds combining the assets of the state’s municipal police and firefighters’ pension funds.
The decision by the state’s Supreme Court follows the February ruling by an Illinois appellate court that the consolidated funds, the $9 billion Illinois Police Officers’ Pension Investment Fund, Peoria, and the $7.2 billion Illinois Firefighters’ Pension Investment Fund, Lombard, are constitutional.
In that ruling affirming the May 2022 decision by Kane County Circuit Court Judge Robert K. Villa that the law creating the consolidated funds was not unconstitutional under the Illinois Constitution’s pension and takings clauses, the Appellate Court of Illinois, Second District in Elgin, said “while plaintiffs have a constitutional right to receive pension benefits … they have no right to the investments held by the funds; rather, they are entitled only to present or future payments from the funds.”
The February 2021 lawsuit filed in Kane County by the boards of 16 municipal police pension funds and two firefighters pension funds, along with some participants from each fund, alleged the law had violated Illinois Constitution clauses by terminating “plaintiffs’ authority to exclusively manage and control their investment expenditures and income,” according to the original court filing.
* Kane County Circuit Court Judge Robert Villa upheld the consolidated pensions law in May 2022 and an appellate court affirmed the decision earlier this year. Bond Buyer…
Daniel Konicek of Konicek & Dillon represents the police funds.
“We disagree from our standpoint that our people have a vested interest in this because their life savings are involved and they feel their right to vote and control” how their hard-earned contributions are invested is a protected benefit, Konicek said of the court rulings so far.
The plaintiffs argued that benefits are damaged because the law “strips plaintiffs of their autonomy and their authority” on investment decisions. The plaintiffs argued the law violates the pension protection clause, the contract clause and the takings clause of the state constitution.
The state countered that fund management doesn’t enjoy the same status as “benefits” with
constitutional protections.
Circuit court Judge Villa, in his ruling, sided with the state, saying he could not extend the term benefits beyond the reach of prior Illinois Supreme Court cases to find the challenge legislation unconstitutional against the pension clause’s protections.
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Open thread
Wednesday, May 31, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* We’ve made it to Wednesday! What’s going on in your part of Illinois?…
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Isabel’s morning briefing
Wednesday, May 31, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* Here you go…
* WTTW | Lawmaker Raises, Car Title Changes: What’s Included in Illinois’ New $50B State Budget: The spending plan doesn’t increase taxes, but it will cost people $10 more for a new car title. That means come July, it will cost $165 for a certificate of title, with the additional funds to be used to update the Illinois secretary of state’s IT infrastructure, which an external assessment found to be very outdated. The secretary of state’s office said the increase “won’t come close” to raising the $200 million needed to overhaul the “archaic” system “to better protect personal information, increase cybersecurity and prevent outages … but is a decision the GA (General Assembly) made to help generate more for modernization.”
* WCIA | State budget includes $85 million more for program to prevent Illinois homelessness: An additional $85 million will go towards “Home Illinois”, Governor J.B. Pritzker’s plan to address the issue. This brings the state’s total investments towards preventing and ending homelessness to more than $350 million.
* WAND | Illinois House leaders show growing division during adjournment speeches: Meanwhile, Welch said many Republicans will go back home to their districts and brag about investments included in the Fiscal Year 2024 budget they voted against. He also celebrated Democratic plans to protect reproductive rights, hold the firearm industry accountable for gun violence, and lower the cost of prescription drugs.
* WICS | New state budget has focus on education: Next year’s budget includes a $250 million increase for early childhood education, including the Smart Start Illinois Program, and eliminating preschool deserts. $350 million will go to the K-12 education funding formula, $45 million for the first year of a pilot program to fill teacher vacancies, and $3 million to expand access to computer science coursework.
* Sun-Times | City’s most violent Memorial Day weekend in 7 years ‘intolerable,’ Mayor Brandon Johnson says: “It produced pain and trauma that devastated communities across Chicago, and my heart breaks for everyone affected,” Johnson said in a statement issued late Tuesday afternoon. “That’s why as mayor, I am committed to leveraging every single resource at our disposal to protect every single life in our city.”
* Sun-Times | Mayor Johnson invokes ‘soul’ of Chicago’s ancestors at Memorial Day ceremony:“I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the fact that I would not be here representing the soul of our ancestors in the city of Chicago if it were not for the soldiers whose humanity had not been recognized. They stood for democracy,” Johnson said.
* Tribune | After community input, search for new Chicago police superintendent enters new phase on the eve of summer: The commission has a mid-July deadline to submit three finalists for the job to new Mayor Brandon Johnson. Whomever Johnson picks will need approval from the full City Council, but he can order the search process to begin again if none of the finalists are to his liking. Until then, Johnson has handed the reins of the CPD to Fred Waller, the former chief of patrol who retired in August 2020 after more than three decades with the department. Waller, who remains popular with rank-and-file officers and supervisors, has said he did not apply for the permanent job.
* Pensions & Investments | Illinois Supreme Court to hear case on legality of 2 consolidated pension funds: The Illinois Supreme Court has agreed to hear arguments regarding the constitutionality of two new consolidated investment funds combining the assets of the state’s municipal police and firefighters’ pension funds. The decision by the state’s Supreme Court follows the February ruling by an Illinois appellate court that the consolidated funds, the $9 billion Illinois Police Officers’ Pension Investment Fund, Peoria, and the $7.2 billion Illinois Firefighters’ Pension Investment Fund, Lombard, are constitutional.
* Illinois Answers | Alderperson Says Migrants Are Causing TB Outbreaks at Police Stations, But It’s Not True: Ald. Ray Lopez (15th) declared migrants sleeping on floors of police stations were infecting officers with tuberculosis, but the Chicago Department of Public Health said there isn’t a single confirmed case. … When an Illinois Answers Project reporter informed Lopez there weren’t any reports of tuberculosis, he doubled down on his claim, alleging the city health department was actively concealing the number of positive tuberculosis cases.
* Mike Hoffman | I received restorative justice from the Catholic Church after surviving clergy abuse: I am a beneficiary of my abuser’s name being listed on the website of the Archdiocese of Chicago, and there is justice and institutional accountability in that. I am also the beneficiary of restorative justice, which is the element that I feel is missing. Beyond the attorney general’s goal of justice and giving voice to survivors as an aid to healing to from the painful trauma of childhood abuse, efforts at restorative justice have helped me, and many others like me, to live a fuller and more complete life.
* Tribune | Former Robbins police chief files lawsuit against mayor, village for wrongful termination: In a federal lawsuit citing “concerning behavior,” Sheppard, who was fired by Bryant in April, alleges wrongful termination and violation of the Whistleblower Protection Act by Bryant and the village of Robbins. Sheppard said he was hired in October 2021 to improve the department, which he said he did by hiring more police officers and decreasing major crime rates. But Sheppard said Bryant displayed “abuse of power” by interfering with his job.
* Tribune | Studies show Illinois most at risk from brain-damaging lead in water, but Florida getting bigger cut of $15 billion EPA fund to replace pipes: Another state surprisingly in the top 10: Texas. Since then environmental lawyers have been quizzing EPA officials and state bureaucrats about a 2022 survey the agency relied upon to conclude Florida surpasses Illinois in the number of lead service lines, and that Texas has more than Michigan and Wisconsin combined.
* Sun-Times | William Brandt, influential Democrat, corporate restructuring pioneer, dies at 73: When future Illinois governor Pat Quinn was a freshman at the Oak Park school, he didn’t know anyone. Young Bill “invited me to be at his lunch table,” Quinn said, the beginning of an enduring friendship. “He was always very involved in social justice and helping people. He loved politics.’’
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Live coverage
Wednesday, May 31, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
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